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The Los Angeles Kings are on the verge of making it back to the playoffs for the first time since 2019. Barring any disaster down the stretch of the regular season, NHL fans are going to see the Kings bless the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs with their royal presence. But can the Kings go deep in the postseason? At the moment, the Kings have over 95% chance of securing a playoff ticket. Making the playoff cut is simply not enough to fill the appetite of their fans yearning for the team’s glory days in the 2010s. If the Kings are to make waves in the playoffs, they likely have to pull some strings ahead of the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline.
Kings general manager Rob Blake has already dropped some hints on the kind of players the team is looking for in the market. With that said, let’s take a look at a few trades the Kings must make in order to sustain their momentum in the 2021-22 NHL season.
3 moves the Kings need to make at NHL trade deadline
Go all in on Jakob Chychrun
In the previous seasons, the Kings, in the middle of a rebuild, had been sellers at the NHL Trade Deadline. Now, with an unexpected shot at making a run in the playoffs, the Kings should be targeting a seller in the Arizona Coyotes, who own arguably the most sought-after commodity in the form of Jakob Chychrun. The 23-year-old defenseman needs to be rescued from the desert – sort of like how Jack Eichel was saved from the Buffalo Sabres by the Las Vegas Golden Knights. And like Eichel, the Coyotes are reportedly putting a high ask for Chychrun.
The Kings don’t have to push all their chips to the center of the table at the trade deadline, but for a talent like Chychrun, they can use their deep draft capital and the expiring contract of Andreas Athanasiou, who’s been on the LA’s injured reserve, to lure Arizona into entering into a deal with them. Chychrun is a controllable young asset until at least the end of the 2024-25 season and comes with a cap hit of $4.6 million – just perfect for the Kings whose rebuilding phase is far from over. Chychrun only has seven goals and 14 assists this season through 47 appearances but he definitely could produce more in a more optimal environment such as Los Angeles.
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Trade for a legitimate scorer
Here’s where the Kings are offensively, as of this writing: they are a middle-of-the-road team in terms of scoring with just 2.87 goals for per game, and that’s despite being sixth overall in the league in Expected Goals For rate (138.2) and fourth in 5-on-5 Corsi For percentage (54.4%). The Kings have a knack for finding the sweet spots on the ice for premium scoring opportunities, but just aren’t capitalizing at a decent rate. Further highlighting the need for another solid finisher on offense for Los Angeles is the fact that the Kings own the worst shooting percentage (6.6%) in the league and is fifth-worst in power-play conversions rate (16.33%).
Injecting the Kings’ with another reliable scorer could go a long way in elevating the play of Los Angeles. If they are interested enough, the Kings can go after Boston Bruins left-winger Jake DeBrusk, who has openly expressed his desire to get out of Beantown. The Kings must have salivated a bit over DeBrusk when he dropped a hat trick against them in a 7-0 Bruins win in Hollywood back in February. DeBrusk would likely just be a rental who won’t cost Los Angeles some of its most-valued draft assets, though the Bruins might press for more given their sense of urgency to win it all this season.
Acquire an active asset for the future
Although they are expected to join the fray in the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Kings should not just be a buyer for an immediate impact player. The future for the franchise isn’t going to happen this season. They can get hot in the postseason just like they did a decade ago, but a conservative approach as a buyer could be the mindset of Blake ahead of the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline. Buying for the future beyond 2022 makes a lot of sense for a team that’s yet to reach the crescendo of its rebuild. Cornerstones Jonathan Quick and Anze Kopitar are not going to be around forever in Tinseltown, though they aren’t trading chips at the moment either, so they can mentor any incoming talent that the Kings plan to groom into becoming a key component of the franchise in the years to come.
