The NHL Trade Deadline is less than a month away and with the Los Angeles Kings on break for the next two weeks, this is a good chance for the Kings' front office to ramp up trade discussions. According to PuckPedia, the Kings have just under $3 million in deadline cap space and if they want to make big moves, they are probably going to have to trade some players to create more cap space.
However, not every player is going to be available due to a no-movement clause or modified no-trade clause. These are players who are unlikely to be traded due to those clauses in their contracts.
Los Angeles Kings with no-movement clauses for 2024-25 season
According to PuckPedia, the Kings have three players who have no-movement clauses in their contracts this season. This group includes forwards Anze Kopitar and Kevin Fiala as well as defensemen Vladislav Gavrikov.
It would be very shocking if the Kings were to even entertain a trade for Anze Kopitar as he has spent his entire career with the team and is the captain. The season would have had to be an absolute disaster for that to even be considered and that hasn't been the case.
As for Kevin Fiala, earlier in the season he was struggling and he might have been considered on the trade block if he didn't have the no-movement clause. However, he has been playing incredible hockey as of late with five goals in the last four games.
Vladislav Gavrikov is the one who probably would have been the most likely to be traded in this group, and there is a chance he still could. While PuckPedia has a no-movement clause, Spotrac doesn't note that in his contract. If there is no clause, the fact that he is a free agent after this season and the Kings did get Drew Doughty back, offering Gavrikov in a trade for a scoring forward could make sense.
Los Angeles Kings with modified no-trade clauses for 2024-25 season
While a no-movement clause means there is no trade the Kings could do without the player waiving the clause, a modified no-trade clause usually is a list of teams a player won't accept but there are some trades that could be accomplished.
These are the players with modified no-trade clauses and how many teams they have on that list:
- Phillip Danault (10 teams no-trade list)
- Adrian Kempe (10 teams no-trade list)
- Warren Foegele (10 teams no-trade list)
- Tanner Jeannot (16 teams no-trade list)
- Drew Doughty (7 teams no-trade list)
- Joel Edmundson (10 teams no-trade list)
- Darcy Kuemper (10 teams no-trade list)
Out of these seven players, the only ones that could be available would be center Phillip Danault and forward Tanner Jeannot. Both players have been key parts of the offense this season but both have sizable cap hits with Danault at $5.5 million and Jeannot at $2.67 million. If the Kings were to trade either, it would open up probably enough cap space to make a big trade.