The Kings are unlikely to offer sheet, take on a bad contract, trade up to No. 1 and be active in free agency
Lisa Dillman of The Athletic: (mailbag) It is very unlikely that the Los Angeles Kings would offer sheet a restricted free agent like Mikhail Sergachev. Offer sheets rarely work and the Kings have other ideas on how to improve their roster.
The Kings and GM Rob Blake don’t appear to be inclined to take on a bad contract with a sweetener to take advantage of some of the extra salary cap space they may have.
The Kings may have the space to add in free agency this offseason but next offseason is more likely when they’ll dip into it. It is possible that the Kings find a bargain this year because of the lack of teams that have available cap space.
It’s unlikely that the Kings would be able to trade up to the first overall draft spot. Whoever wins the first pick likely won’t want to trade it.
Kraken in no rush to name their coaching staff
TSN: Darren Dreger said that Seattle Kraken GM Ron Francis is not in rush to name their first head coach and the rest of his coaching staff. COVID-19 has complicated some things but there could also be some coaching changes after the playoffs.
“See if there’s any coaches changes that they come out of that from both a head coaching perspective and an assistant coaching stand point as well. Obviously, there’s been ample speculation around Gerard Gallant, formerly of the Vegas Golden Knights, essentially since he’s been let go by the Vegas Golden Knights. So that remains consistent. I think it’s safe to call him in the mix, but the process hasn’t kicked into high gear just yet.”
Kraken could help teams gain some extra cap space
TSN: The Kraken are in a spot where they may be able to take advantage of the flattening of the salary cap next season, and some GMs know this. Dreger adds teams will help make the Kraken interested, and that arbitration could make some others available.
“So there could be teams that are up against the cap or who have to think boldly that look at a high earning player and say ‘look, this guy is a quality individual, are you interested? Perhaps, we’re interested in sweetening it to make sure you’re interested.’ And then you got arbitration cases and that fact there is a belief that some clubs could walk away from qualifying offers, exposing some pretty good players. So, Ron Francis might be in a great position.”