General manager Ken Holland's first full free agency period with the Los Angeles Kings' front office last offseason was met with a lot of criticism.
Free-agent signings like defensemen Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin, wingers Corey Perry and Joel Armia, and goaltender Anton Forsberg were viewed by many in the media and among the Kings' fan base as pretty uninspiring moves focused on aging veterans instead of splashy acquisitions.
A season later, it's time to revisit those signings and how each one actually worked out for the Kings.
How did the Los Angeles Kings' 2025 free-agent class hold up after one season?
Here's a revisiting of every free agent signing the Kings and Holland made in the 2025 offseason in retrospect.
Corey Perry, W
It was difficult to ever imagine the veteran winger Perry wearing a Kings' uniform before he signed with Los Angeles on a one-year contract in free agency last offseason. While it was tough to adjust to seeing Perry wearing the black and silver this past regular season, once he returned from a lower-body injury that caused him to miss training camp and the preseason, he made an immediate offensive impact.
Perry scored seven goals and over 10 total points in the season's first 10 games he played with the Kings this past year. Even after cooling off from that red-hot start offensively in late October this past regular season, Perry was still a reliable net-front presence and a key veteran leader for the forward group in the bottom six.
After sending him to Tampa Bay at the trade deadline last March, the Kings signed Perry to a one-year contract in free agency for the second time in as many offseasons this summer.
Grade: B
Add us as a preferred source on Google