There is no question that Vladislav Gavrikov is the top unrestricted free agent the Los Angeles Kings have. If they re-sign him to a contract that is expected to be between $7 and $8 million AAV, and they add another big-name free agent, like Mitch Marner, there will be limited cap space to bring back their other free agents.
This could force Ken Holland to make the decision between Andrei Kuzmenko and Tanner Jeannot, who would be next in terms of ranking the Kings' unrestricted free agents. Let's make the case for each player and why they should be the one the Kings' re-sign this summer.
Why the Los Angeles Kings should re-sign Tanner Jeannot
The Kings traded for Tanner Jeannot during the NHL Draft last year as a way to get bigger and more physical, particularly among the forwards. He would play in 67 games for the Kings and had seven goals and six assists, and led the team in hits with 211. In fact, he would have over 60 more hits than the next player on the roster, who was Samuel Helenius with 150.
Jeannot suffered an injury at the end of March that couldn't have been worse timing, as he was just starting to get hot and contribute more to the offense with two goals and two assists in the two games prior to the injury.
He really settled in on the fourth line and at 27 years old, still has plenty of hockey left. Jeannot brings good physicality and was pretty much what the Kings expected when they traded for him.
Why the Los Angeles Kings should re-sign Andrei Kuzmenko
The Kings would make only one trade at the NHL Trade Deadline during the season and it was one that seemed nothing more than a low-risk, high-reward type move. Andrei Kuzmenko at one point of his career was a 35+ goal player but he hasn't shown that since his rookie season and had moved around from the Canucks to the Flames to the Flyers before joining the Kings.
He would play in only 22 regular season games but appeared to regain some of that form from his first year in the league with 17 points in that stretch, including five power-play assists. Kuzmenko also had a solid playoff series against the Oilers with six points in six games.
The question the Kings need to answer is whether or not 22 games is enough to commit to a long-term deal with Kuzmenko.
Should the Kings re-sign Andrei Kuzmenko or Tanner Jeannot?
Assuming the AAV are relatively similar for the two players and working under the premise that they can only sign one, I would lean towards the Kings re-signing Andrei Kuzmenko. While it is a smaller sample size, he has the higher ceiling and could have a greater impact than Jeannot.
When Jeannot was out due to the injury the Kings got comparable performance from Jeff Malott, who had 19 hits and seven blocks in 12 games. There was a clear difference with this team, particularly on the power play, when Kuzmenko was on the roster compared to prior to the Kings trading for him.
There is certainly more risk with Kuzmenko and he could return to the level he showed in the prior seasons after his rookie season but it is worth the risk.