At this point of the offseason, the LA Kings front office and the rest around the league are spending their time getting ready for the NHL Draft at the end of the month. However, they are also busy preparing for free agency which is only a few days later.
One thing that teams are trying to do is find ways to create extra cap space to help them improve the roster once free agency starts in July. This week, the New York Rangers appear to be trying to accomplish that with a rumored trade with the Anaheim Ducks that would send Chris Kreider to the Kings' division rival.
While the Ducks are adding to their roster, that isn't the big reason why the Los Angeles Kings should be taking note of such a deal. The reason is that it appears that the Rangers are trying to clear some cap space to potentially sign a key part from their team last season in Vladislav Gavrikov.
New York Rangers could be one of the team's trying to sign Vladislav Gavrikov away from the LA Kings
There is no question that Vladislav Gavrikov is going to be one of the highly-sought after free agents this summer. He is one of the best defensemen available and is coming off an excellent season with the Kings.
Shortly after the Scouting Combine, it was reported that the Rangers were very interested in Gavrikov. However, they would need to make additional moves to make a competitive offer with around $8.5 million in cap space.
They certainly could achieve that by trading Kreider, as he has an AAV of $6.5 million over the next two seasons. According to ESPN's Emily Kaplan, the Ducks would take the full salary, but the holdup appears to be that Anaheim is one of the teams on Kreider's no-trade list, and it is something he would need to waive.
For the Ducks, it makes a lot of sense to get this trade done because they not only would get better with a veteran like Kreider but also potentially help get out one of the top defensemen in the division. As of right now, the Kings still hold the advantage over the rest of the league because they are the only team able to negotiate with Gavrikov but if he gets to free agency, it might be tough to hold onto him.