It is pretty clear based on the last road trip, and for most of the season, that the Los Angeles Kings need some help up front. They have struggled to score goals and really complement an excellent defensive performance so far this season.
The NHL Trade Deadline is a little over a month away but most of the NHL has already started making big trades as they try to improve their roster for hopefully a playoff run later in the year. The Kings are definitely going to need to do that if they hope to get past the first round for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
Recently, The Fourth Period updated their Trade Watch List, and of those players, the Los Angeles Kings were linked to four of them. This group included Jake Evans with the Montreal Canadiens, Kyle Palmieri with the New York Islanders, Ryan Donato of the Chicago Blackhawks, and Scott Laughton of the Philadelphia Flyers.
Kyle Palmieri could be the top target of this group for the Los Angeles Kings
While Kyle Palmieri is the oldest of these four and carries the biggest cap hit, he seems to check all the boxes of what the Los Angeles Kings need. It was recently reported that the Kings were looking for a right-handed goal scorer and of these four that leaves only Jake Evans and Kyle Palmieri.
The reason that Palmieri might be a better fit is that he can contribute more to the power play than Evans. The power play unit for the Kings is one of the worst in the league and adding a player like Palmieri would be a nice boost as he had 10 goals and 10 assists last season on power plays.
As noted in the Trade Watch List, Palmieri does have a 16-team no-trade clause and it remains to be seen if the Kings are one of those teams. However, if they are not and the Islanders are willing to retain some salary, this is a move that would make a lot of sense for Los Angeles.