How much cap space do the LA Kings have left in the 2024 offseason?

It was a busy offseason for the LA Kings in Jim Hiller first as head coach after the Kings removed the interim tag with a strong finish to the season. The Kings had over $20 million to work with in terms of cap space and they used a majority of it on two players.

The Kings would give Joel Edmundson the biggest contract among their free agent signings with a four-year contract worth $15.4 million. Edmundson was traded close to the trade deadline last season from the Washington Capitals to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

The other notable contract this offseason by the Kings was with Warren Foegele, who signed a three-year deal worth $10.5 million. The 28-year-old winger is coming off a career year with division-rival Edmonton Oilers. It is always nice when a team can grab a player coming off his best season from a rival.

The Kings would sign seven other players, which included bringing back two players from last year’s team. The Kings would re-sign Trevor Lewis as well as goalie Pheonix Copley to one-year deals each.

LA Kings have a little cap space left with some work left to do

According to Spotrac, the LA Kings have $1.41 million in cap space which ranks in the bottom half of the NHL at 20th overall. There are still eight players from last year’s team that are free agents, including two restricted free agents.

Goalie Erik Portillo played in 39 games for the Ontario Reign and went 24-11 with a 0.918 save percentage. When considering the age of the current goalie group on the NHL roster, this is an easy move to get done and it is a little surprising it has dragged out this long.

The other restricted free agent isn’t as simple as Arthur Kaliyev, who reportedly requested a trade earlier this year. The challenge for the Kings is that he is coming off his worst season in the NHL and his trade value is low. It would seem a trade is best for both sides but it remains to be seen what that will look like.