In 2017, the Los Angeles Kings were only three seasons away from winning their second Stanley Cup however, it seemed like a distant memory. They had made the playoffs only once in that stretch, and it wasn't really competitive as the San Jose Sharks would win it in five.
After the 2016-17 season, the Los Angeles Kings were ready for a change and would fire head coach Darryl Sutter and general manager Dean Lombardi. They would replace them with John Stevens as head coach and Rob Blake as general manager but even with the recent lack of success and new leadership, the Kings didn't really lean into a rebuild when they should have.
At that point, the Kings should have been looking to build for the future rather than trying to get back into contention with a roster that wasn't at that level. They had a number of older veterans who would have been of interest to teams that were trying to win now and would have been willing to offer younger prospects.
Who could the Los Angeles Kings have traded that year?
A player like Jeff Carter would have been a perfect example of a player the Kings should have looked to trade. He was coming off an All-Star season where he had 32 goals and 34 assists but was 32 years old that season.
The Kings would end up trading him a few seasons later during the 2020-21 season but at that point he had less than 20 goals for three straight seasons and didn't bring back as much value as he would have if they traded him before the 2017-18 season.
There were other players who could have been moved, but it would have been tougher due to their value to the franchise. This included players like Dustin Brown, Jonathan Quick or even Anze Kopitar as all three were 30 years or older and would have helped win-now teams.
The worst thing that could have happened that season was the Kings making the playoffs as it gave them some hope that they could compete. However, it was a four-game sweep by the Vegas Golden Knights and the Kings would miss the playoffs for the next three straight seasons.
It would seem 2017 was their window to full commit to a rebuild and by missing it, they delayed having continued success for a few seasons.