Although the Los Angeles Kings are a much better hockey team with Artemi Panarin in the fold, they will sorely miss Kevin Fiala for the rest of the 2025-26 season after the forward suffered a devastating leg injury while playing for Switzerland at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
With the NHL Trade Deadline now just two weeks away, general manager Ken Holland is reportedly looking to add a middle-six scoring winger to replace Fiala, as reported by The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta.
“They wanted to add more after adding Panarin even if Fiala was healthy,” the hockey insider said on the latest episode of ‘Daily Faceoff Live' on Thursday.
“They're going to amplify their search now, they've got cap space, they can add more if they throw Fiala on season-ending LTIR. …Adding at least one more forward up front, Ken Holland has mentioned he likes his D-core, obviously he's comfortable with the goaltending, it's up front that needs some adjustments.”
Pagnotta believes that the Kings will try to acquire both a center and a winger, although one of those additions could wait until the offseason.
“And they need a center. They need a top-two center at the very least by next season. I don't know if they necessarily pull that off now, we know they poked on [Vincent] Trocheck. LA, at the very least, needs a scoring winger they can add to their middle-six.
“So we'll see what they end up doing over these next [two weeks], but it's definitely an area Holland wants to address. If he can bring somebody on the wing and add someone to that center position, he'd love to do that. I just don't know if there's enough runway for him to be able to do both.”
It's looking like Los Angeles is preparing to buy before March 6, and that's after already landing the top player on the trade market in Panarin. They also need to look to the future with franchise legend Anze Kopitar in the midst of his final year.
Kings badly need to improve offensive side of puck
As Pagnotta explained, the Kings have no issues on the defensive side of the puck, nor in net with Stanley Cup champion Darcy Kuemper between the pipes.
But the offense has not come easy for the club in 2025-26; LA is currently scoring just 2.54 goals per game, which is 30th league-wide. That's not at all acceptable for a franchise with postseason aspirations, and the glaring lack of offense has cost them in the standings.
Amid the Olympic break, the Kings are 23-19-14 and three points back of the final wildcard berth in the Western Conference with 26 games remaining.
Getting Panarin acquired and locked up for two seasons is terrific, and he will make an immediate impact. But Fiala was having a great year — to the tune of 40 points in 56 games — and he'll be difficult to replace.
There are a plethora of decent options on the market, including Jeff Skinner, who was just released by the San Jose Sharks. Other potential fits include Montreal Canadiens sniper Patrik Laine, Vancouver Canucks power forward Evander Kane and Nashville Predators' Michael Bunting, among others.
It'll be interesting to see if Holland and the front office can bring another scorer or two to California between now and March 6 — and whether it will make the difference in getting the squad back into the dance for a fifth consecutive campaign.
