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For a fourth year in a row, the Los Angeles Kings lost in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Edmonton Oilers. This led the Kings not to move on from general manager Rob Blake and hire Ken Holland as his replacement. Holland comes in with plenty of winning experience, as he's worked in the front office for four teams that have won the Stanley Cup. Furthermore, he was part of the front office that built the Oilers teams that have knocked the Kings out of the playoffs the past four years. Now, he needs to make some trades to help his current team get past his former one.
Los Angeles has been busy this offseason, mainly on the blue line. They lost Vladislav Gavrikov to the New York Rangers in free agency and then traded Jordan Spence to the Ottawa Senators, but the front office moved quickly to bring in Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin as their replacements. The Kings also re-signed Andrei Kuzmenko to a one-year contract extension. At the forward spot, Joel Armia and Corey Perry will also be heading to SoCal. Perry is coming from the Oilers, which should bring some joy to Kings fans.
Still, L.A.'s defense was one of the best in the NHL last year, sitting second in the league in goals against per game while also sporting the eighth-best penalty kill. They lost one of their top defenders in Gavrikov, who played all 82 games, scored 30 points, and was second on the team in ice time per game. Making matters worse, the team lost some of its youth on defense by trading away the 24-year-old Spence. Now, they have seven defenders under contract, with just two of them under the age of 30.
The Kings need to find some young players who can also eat up some solid minutes. They have just $7.5 million in cap space and still need to re-sign Alex Laferriere, a restricted free agent. Despite that, they could make one more move on the blue line this summer.
The Kings should trade for Bowen Byram from the Sabres
On the trade market, Los Angeles could conceivably go after a top-end forward, with guys like Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell on the Pittsburgh Penguins being sensible targets. There has also been some speculation that they could go after Connor McDavid, in a move akin to the 1988 trade that sent Wayne Gretzky from the Oilers to the Kings. Still, that is highly unlikely. The Kings also have solid youth and depth at the forward position. While they have some depth at the blue line, those players are older.
It's also worth noting that two of Los Angeles' top defenders missed significant time last year. Drew Doughty played in just 30 games last season, and it was the second time in the past four years he has missed a majority of the season. Meanwhile, Kyle Burroughs played in just 33 games last year, meaning he has still played over 50 games in a season just once in his NHL career.
While the Kings are short on cap space, they should consider trading for Bowen Byram from the Buffalo Sabres. Byram is not being actively shopped, but the Sabres have acknowledged that they would be open to trading him if the price is right. The No. 4 overall pick in the 2019 NHL Draft, the Canadian blue liner broke into the pros for the first time in the 2020-21 season, playing 19 games for the Colorado Avalanche. He would be traded to the Sabres in March of 2024 as part of the Casey Mittelstadt deal.
There are several reasons why Byram is an attractive trade target for the Kings. For starters, he just turned 24 years old, which would immediately bring youth to the Kings' blue line. Beyond that, Byram would add some offensive punch to L.A.'s defense, as he racked up seven goals and 31 assists last year, and he may not be done improving just yet, as his scoring chances created and rush numbers have improved every year of his NHL career. Finally, he played over 22 minutes per game last year, while taking the ice for all 82 games.
There is a small concern over salary, as Byram will probably earn between $5-$7 million per year on his next contract extension, which would take up the majority of the Kings' remaining cap space. Still, the Kings have pieces they could shop to bring Byram in, and if they can convince the Sabres' front office to move on from him, there's no doubt this would be a deal worth making for L.A.
