The Los Angeles Kings are in a position to add as they have a numerous amount of good prospects to use in order to win soon. That being said, Elliotte Friedman suggested that the Kings could make a pitch for Patrick Kane from the Chicago Blackhawks.
Frank Seravalli reported that the Blackhawks are expected to talk with Kane soon to see if he has interest in a trade. Originally the team was going to circle back in January, but it seems they’ve grown impatient and want to make sure they’re losing games to get the best possible draft pick. The Blackhawks have lost five in a row and 11 of the past 13 games before their game against the Montreal Canadiens. That is with the last two big trade pieces they hope to move. Kane and Jonathan Toews will help them win games through the course of the season and trading them sooner rather than later would only help the Blackhawks in the long run.
The price has been set for Kane and we will look at what players could possibly be on the move from Los Angeles to Chicago to get a deal done.
Alex Iafallo
It’s no secret the Blackhawks are going to have to retain salary for Kane no matter what team he is traded to. The Kings have over $3.5 million in cap space right now with Alex Iafallo on the LTIR. That will change and they will be near the cap when he returns. A good bit of money will have to head back to the Blackhawks in order for the Kings to acquire Kane. It would start with a $4 million player like Iafallo who has two more years remaining on his deal after this season.
Iafallo would not only be a necessary piece to move cap-wise, he would be able to play higher up in the lineup in Chicago and fill a void that will surely be left open once a number of the bigger named players depart this season. There’s no doubt the Blackhawks can flip him next season or the one after for more assets. On the Kings, he was already pushed out of the top-six before his injury. It’ll be very tough for him to win a spot back at this point. The Kings have a lot of talent on their team and in their system.
Sean Walker
Not only would dealing Sean Walker help out the cap situation in a trade, it would also help in finding a solution to the abundance of defencemen the Kings have. They have more than enough and are already looking to move at least one. If they can’t find a trade partner around the league for one of their right shot defencemen, the Blackhawks could surely use him the same way they would be able to use Iafallo.
Walker is signed through next season and would make a decent trade piece next season while he helps the team fill a roster spot and hit the cap floor. Possibly interchange Walker with Matt Roy if you please, but I believe the Kings like Roy on their blue line better than Walker and are less willing to let him go.
Top Prospect, 1st Round Pick
The other pieces that will be required to land Kane this season are a top prospect and a first round pick. The Kings have all of their first round picks, so that part won’t be very hard to accommodate. As for the top prospect, the Kings have a number of those as well. I would keep three players out of the trade: Brandt Clarke, Quinton Byfield, and Alex Turcotte. Each of them are too rich for the trade considering Owen Tippett was the prospect that went from Florida to Philadelphia for Claude Giroux and Kane has a similar asking price.
That being said, the Kings have one NHL-ready prospect in particular that is the likely candidate to be headed back to the Blackhawks if a deal is made. His name is Rasmus Kupari. Drafted 20th overall in 2018, this is Kupari’s second season in the NHL. He didn’t spend all of last season with the Kings as he played 57 games in the NHL and 15 in the AHL.
The way the Kings are stocked on forwards, he plays fourth line minutes with not much room to play any higher. This season he started out in the AHL and proved to be too good to stay down there. He has now appeared in 13 games with the Kings, but is still in a fourth line role. A high Kings’ pick the following year, Arthur Kaliyev, has already proven to be a more valuable piece for the future and they would be wise to hold onto him with his dangerous shot.
Trade Overview
So here’s what the potential trade for Kane could look like between the Kings and Blackhawks:
- Blackhawks acquire- Alex Iafallo, Sean Walker, Rasmus Kupari, 1st round pick.
- Kings acquire- Patrick Kane.
Would you make the deal if you were the general manager of the Kings and Blackhawks?
Four assets for a 34 year old Kane is too rich. Iafallo, Walker and a prospect or two mid level prospects seems like a fair deal. I don’t think the Kings want to move Kupari until Turcotte or Byfield prove they can play NHL minutes.
Losing Walker opens up a spot for Brandt Clarke, so that piece works. Losing Iafallo opens up a spot for Kane, although Iafallo has been playing left wing and Kane is a right winger.
Prospect wise the Kings probably would have been OK to move Akil Smith but he just had season ending surgery again and is probably done as a good prospect. They could include Chromiak, Fagemo, Pinelli etc.. but those players are young and haven’t had enough time to show where and if they belong.
If the Kings land Kane, I think they’d have to experiment with the line combo’s to find the right fit
Kempe Kopitar Fiala
Moore, Danault, Arviddson
Vilardi Kupari/Byfield Kane
Lemieux /Anderson Dolan Lizotte Kaliyev
Like other Kings fans, I think we need to land a big left defenseman to add muscle to the team. They’re a bit soft and need to get closer to the 2012-2014 Kings