LA Kings News and Rumors: Adrian Kempe, Drew Doughty, Alex Tuch

It was elimination day on Monday in the 4 Nations Face-Off and one of the Los Angeles Kings is heading home while the other advances to the Championship Game against Team USA. While the 4 Nations Face-Off is coming to an end on Thursday, it means the NHL season will pick up once again as well as the trade rumors with the NHL Trade Deadline quickly approaching.

These are some of the recent top news and rumors for the Los Angeles Kings.

Team Sweden doesn't advance but Adrian Kempe has a good tournament

The final game of the round robin portion of the tournament was between Team USA and Team Sweden. Since Team Canada won earlier in the day, Team Sweden knew they would not be advancing but still came away with a win by a final score of 2-1.

Team Sweden would finish the tournament with a 1-0-2 record with overtime losses to Team Canada and Team Finland. For Adrian Kempe, he was a big part of Team Sweden and had one goal on 11 shots with a +/- of -1 while having ice time over 15 minutes in every game.

Kempe currently leads the Los Angeles Kings in goals with 25 and will need to continue the production for this offense.

Drew Doughty won't shy away from a fight against Team USA

The first meeting between Team USA and Team Canada was an incredibly hockey game that started out with three fights in the first nine seconds. The two teams are now set to meet again less than a week later with much more at stake. It certainly will be another hard fought contest on Thursday night.

After Team Canada's game on Monday, Drew Doughty was asked if he was challenged by Matthew Tkachuk how he would respond. He didn't say he was looking for a fight but if the moment is there, he will be ready.

Could the Los Angeles Kings be interested in Alex Tuch?

For the Los Angeles Kings, this has been a time to evaluate their team and maybe start having trade conversations ahead of next month's trade deadline. One of the players that could be on their radar is Buffalo Sabres' forward Alex Tuch. According to Russell Morgan with Hockey Royalty, the Kings are one of a few teams that have shown interest in Tuch.

Tuch has played the past four seasons with the Buffalo Sabres after he was part of the trade that sent Jack Eichel to the Vegas Golden Knights. While the Sabres have struggled, Tuch has been productive with 79 points in 2022-23 and 59 points last season. This year he has 43 points and has almost matched last season's goal total of 22 with 19 in only 54 games.

Tuch certainly checks alot of the boxes that the Kings are looking for, most notably being a right-handed forward. He also would be a little more than a rental player as he does have another year left on his contract after this season.

While the Sabres are struggling, it is hard to imagine they would want to move Alex Tuch and with other teams showing interest, the price to acquire him might be pretty high. It will be interesting to see if the Kings are able to offer a package that motivates the Sabres enough to make the move.