Los Angeles Kings Had Cap Space Issues and Had To Settle For Third Scoring Option
Dave Pagnotta of the Fourth Period joined TSN Radio in Montreal and was asked bout the Los Angeles Kings and why they settled on Andrei Kuzemenko and not go after Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks or Rickard Rakell from the Pittsburgh Penguins at the NHL Trade Deadline.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Host: “So Dave, what I didn’t get, and when it comes to LA, like (Andrei) Kuzmenko, right-handed shooting goal scorer. Who I don’t know if he’s going to be able to find his touch from a few years ago. If you’re the Kings, like, why did you not give up a first-round pick for Brock Boeser, a right-handed shooting goal scorer who is more of a sure bet?”
Dave Pagnotta: “Well, two things. One, I don’t think they got to that that point in terms of making that offer, because I don’t really think, I don’t know this for full certainty, but the word that kind of spread was Vancouver didn’t want to trade him in division. So, I think Edmonton poked on him too. And with LA especially, they’re in the race, they’re within striking distance of third in the Pacific, which is where LA is at.
I don’t get the sense that Vancouver was comfortable doing that and then having him potentially bite them in the butt. Now, I do expect LA to pursue him as a free agent, assuming everything works or continues down the pathway of him hitting the open market. But that’s that’s kind of the idea, or the info that I got was the idea that they weren’t willing to move him in Division, especially to LA.”
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Host: “Isn’t that just a little bit shortsighted? If you look at Vancouver and you’re realistic about things, I mean, (Thatcher) Demko can’t stay healthy. Quinn Hughes is being held together by glue. You did the J.T. Miller trade? Elias Pettersson is a lost puppy out there. Like you’re not making the playoffs if you’re in Vancouver. Boeser just gonna walk now?”
Pagnotta: “Yeah, and the way they handle that negotiation hasn’t been great. They’re out of the playoffs now. Calgary is right ahead of them. The Blues are tied in points, although I think they’ve played a couple extra games. It’s gonna be tough sweating. And I agree I would have bit the bullet and then made that move.
The other thing too, that complicated things was their cap, LA’s cap space. Philly at half of Kuzmenko’s deal which was 5.25 or 5.5, what it was. Boeser’s at 6.65. Even at half, that would have been very tough for LA to pull off. And they probably would have needed a third party, which meant they needed to give something else up on top of it. I don’t think they got too far down that path to a trade.
I know they were, I mentioned (Rickard) Rakell, they were really hot for Rakell, and those conversations went all week. There was talk on Tuesday, Wednesday, and even Thursday that they were still trying to make that happen, and that was their backup to (Mikko) Rantanen.
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And I think Wednesday is when they realized they weren’t going to really be a match for him. So they tried to go all-in on Rakell. I don’t know what was discussed specifically, but obviously it wasn’t enough. And with term left on his contract, I suspect that LA is going to circle back on that this summer, depending on what options are available to them.
Like Boeser. Like (Kyle) Palmieri, is out. He’s got an agreement with the Islanders when that becomes official with Lou, who knows, but he’s off the market. So the Kings are definitely going to look. And look LA might be, they went after Mikko Rantanen, they could certainly be another team that goes after Mitch Marner as well, if he hits the open market.”
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