While the 2013-14 offseason was chock full of compliance buyouts, cap conscious moves, and budget signings, the 2014-15 offseason should be a little more free-wheeling as the cap is projected to
raise by $6.8 Million dollars.
The Kings, who over the past several years have been a very cap friendly team with a good amount of friendly value contracts, were no strangers to having to cut some cost this offseason. Rob Scuderi, a key piece in the Kings' defensive success, was forced out by the cost cutting season.
Now with the cap going up the Kings can look to next offseason as an opportunity to gain pieces rather than having to cut them.
First let's look at potential raises and re-signings. With an entirely healthy roster the Kings are pushed to the limit on cap this year at $64.3. Next year the Kings payroll is expected to be $55.8 as nine players on the roster are going to be free agents (three RFA, six UFA). Here is a list of those players:
UFA
Trevor Lewis
Daniel Carcillo
Colin Fraser
Willie Mitchell
Matt Greene
Ben Scrivens
RFA
Linden Vey
Dwight King
Matt Frattin
Now let's say the Kings qualify both Vey and Frattin and give Dwight King a raise to...how does $1.5 mil a season sound? Let's go with that. Let's also venture that they resign Trevor Lewis for $1.325, his current contract. That's 20 roster spots filled, looking like this:
Notice the column on the left. The Kings have a few options here. There are two defenseman in Willie Mitchell and Matt Greene available for resigning. There is one full-time spot available on the Kings. Mitchell is 36 and has had his fair share of injuries as of late, and you could say the same thing about 30-year-old Matt Greene.
With the cap going up it's hard to say that neither would ask for a raise with the extra money. With the current season Greene is having, and the age that Mitchell is, I doubt either asks for anything north of $4 million. Let's say we resign one of them for 3.75. For posterity we will select Matt Greene.
That gives the Kings a 21-man roster with $7.1 mil to spend.
Alright now. What do you spend it on? I know everyone is saying the Kings need wingers. This is true. But what about the defense? Skating six defenseman is a risk in case one gets injured, and as it currently stands there aren't really a whole lot of options in the minors just yet except for Jeff Schultz IF the team chooses to resign him. This is also assuming Alec Martinez is capable of a full 82-game season without riding the pine.
Here are some of the defenseman that will be UFAs in the upcoming offseason, and are of the more stay-at-home variety:
In the "value" category:
Hal Gill (700K)
Mike Komisarek (700K)
Douglas Murray (1.5M)
Derek Engelland (566K)
Mark Fayne (1.3M)
These are just a small sample of names out there outside of the big boys like Girardi (Whom I would love to see in a Kings uni), Markov, Meszaros, and Dan Boyle. Honestly though, I wouldn't be surprised to see the Kings retain Jeff Schultz. He has been on a first call up basis and has been solid in Manchester. One more year to Schultz may be perfect until Derek Forbort or Kevin Gravel are ready to transition to the next level.
Notables on the free agent wing market?
L Mike Cammalleri (6.0M)
L Dan Cleary (1.75M)
L Dany Heatley (7.5M)
L Jussi Jokinen (3.0M)
L Patrick Marleau (6.9M)
L Milan Michalek (4.3M)
L Matt Moulson (3.13M)
L Alex Steen (3.362M)
L Tomas Vanek (7.1M)
You can find a full list of upcoming LW free agents
right here
R Jarome Iginla (6.0M)
R Daniel Alfredsson (5.5M)
R Marian Gaborik (7.5M)
R Ales Hemsky (5.0M)
R David Moss (2.1M)
R Devin Setoguchi (3.0M)
R Lee Stempniak (2.5M)
Here is the full list of RW free agents.
The bolded players are ones who have ties to either Sutter, the Kings, or Lombardi, since they seem to love to acquire players they know, have worked with, and/or drafted.
As you can see there are a few top end options in both winger departments, particularly left. I also wouldn't discount the Kings kicking the tires on the likes of a Dan Girardi (If he even makes it to free agency) and then making a signing along the lines of David Moss.
There are a ton of options it seems and in total the Kings are likely going to have between $7-5 million to spend on two players.
What are some of the options you are looking at?
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Massive congrats to LA Kings goaltender Martin Jones, who was named the NHL second star of the week this week.
The future is bright.
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