4 LA Kings Who Won’t Be Back Next Season

The Los Angeles Kings are one of the hottest teams in the NHL and look primed for a deep playoff run as all of their bases are covered roster-wise. Though they have such a deep team, not everyone is going to be sticking around next season and there will especially have to be changes to the back-end. Here’s a look at four Kings who won’t be back next season.

Vladislav Gavrikov

Vladislav Gavrikov made it clear that he is going to be testing free agency after the season before he was traded to the Kings. He has been good for the Kings since coming over, so it will be a big loss for them, especially the way he and the team has played since the trade deadline. Even if they were going to be able to keep him around, he is going to cost a lot more than the $2.8 million contract he’s on now as he is a top-four defenceman.

The Kings had a huge need on the left side and addressed it by acquiring Gavrikov, regardless of his offseason plans. They will have to address it more permanently in the summer so they don’t have the same problem as they did this season in regards to having far too many right shot defencemen and not nearly enough left shots.

Zack MacEwen

It was a really tough choice narrowing it down to who the Kings would most likely move on from among their forwards. What’s clear though is that at least one forward must be gone. The team has so much talent up front between the veterans and youth that some of the young players are suffering for it. Quinton Byfield has solidified himself in the top-six while Blake Lizotte has played consistently and well all season. As for others like Arthur Kaliyev, Carl Grundstrom, Rasmus Kupari, and Jaret Anderson-Dolan, none of them have played close to every game for the Kings this season.

Zack MacEwen was a trade deadline acquisition and was meant to be an upgrade over Brendan Lemieux. MacEwen provides the needed physicality and toughness for the playoffs, but there’s just too much talent to warrant keeping him around next season, even as a 13th or 14th forward. Not unless the Kings move one of their top-six forwards which isn’t needed since they have cap space available. MacEwen is taking away a spot on the fourth line from a young player and even though he’s a RFA at the end of the season, I could see him being traded over not being qualified.

Alex Edler

Edler is another left-shot defenceman for the Kings that won’t return, but likely not through his decision. The Kings should be the one moving on as they are getting younger, he’s 36 years old, and playing less than 15 minutes a game at this point.

Related: 3 Sharks Who Won’t Be Back Next Season

This is the season where the decline for Edler has been very noticeable and he is nearing the end of his career. In his 15 seasons in Vancouver, he averaged over 23 minutes of ice time per game. Over the past two seasons with the Kings, he is logging 16:23. Not only has Sean Durzi starter to play on the left side to account for the number of right-shot defencemen the Kings have, the team also has Jacob Moverare and Tobias Bjornfot in the minors and itching to get a better shot in the NHL.

Sean Walker

It’s no secret that the Kings want to move some right-shot defencemen. They have Drew Doughty, Durzi, Matt Roy, Sean Walker, Jordan Spence, and Brandt Clarke. Doughty, Durzi, and Clarke are going nowhere and Spence is still young enough to play between the NHL and AHL. That leaves Roy and Walker. If the Kings were to choose, Walker is the least valuable to them based on the number of healthy scratches, spot in the lineup, production, and ice time.

Walker still has one year left after this one at $2.65 million and is 28 years old. It isn’t a bad contract to move even though they were unable to do so at the trade deadline. The offseason will be their best option as it would not only finally free up a roster spot on the back-end, it would open up a bit more cap space to utilize.