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The Los Angeles Kings have quite a bit of cap space remaining and it could be a good move to use that cap space to take back some bad contracts, in exchange for assets. Recently, I've been looking at which contracts the Kings could potentially trade for, broken down by division, and this last article will focus on contracts from the Pacific Division.
So this article won’t include players that the Kings could likely get for cheap but instead players with whom the Kings could get assets for taking. It also won’t include contracts that are just too long or have too much money attached to them, like Milan Lucic’s contract. On top of that, it also won’t include any contracts from the Arizona Coyotes, based on their lack of second and third-round picks over the next two drafts, as I feel like given the spot they’re in, they also won’t be keen on moving prospects. So here are four players from the Pacific Division that the Kings could use cap space to acquire, in exchange for assets.
SVEN BAERTSCHI (VANCOUVER CANUCKS): $3.37M for one year
Baertschi spent just about the entire season in the AHL this year, playing just six games for the Canucks. Considering the Canucks have several important pieces to re-sign, they can’t afford to keep players like Baertschi on their payroll. The Canucks could simply buy him out, but it wouldn’t save nearly as much cap space and moving the contract would create quite a bit more breathing room. We saw the Marc Staal trade cost a second-round pick, so we can assume that Baertschi’s contract would cost a third-round pick to move.
JAY BEAGLE (VANCOUVER CANUCKS): $3M for two years
Vancouver’s cap situation reminds me of the New York Islanders’ situation, in that so much cap space is tied up in bottom-six players. Considering Beagle is turning 35 years old next month and had just eight points in 55 games, he’d be an ideal for the Canucks contract to move. That said, the deal does have two years remaining, meaning it would likely cost more than moving Baertschi’s contract.
LOUI ERIKSSON (VANCOUVER CANUCKS): $6M for two years
While Eriksson can still play in the bottom-six, there’s no doubt the Canucks would want to move him. His $6 million per year is an anchor of a contract and getting rid of it would do wonders for Vancouver’s cap situation. However, we’re probably talking about more than just a first-round pick for anyone to take Eriksson, based on both the high AAV and the two years of term. Plus, Eriksson has a partial no-trade clause, so a lot would have to go into a deal for it to work.
KRIS RUSSELL (EDMONTON OILERS): $4M for one year
Russell can still kill penalties but his ice time dropped to below 17 minutes per game this year and the Oilers have some good defensive prospects ready to take on a larger role. Edmonton won’t have a ton of room to add in the offseason based on their cap situation and moving Russell would create space both in the lineup and on the payroll. Given that he can still play third-pairing minutes, I wouldn’t expect more than a mid-round pick for taking on the contract if the Oilers did look to move it, so ideally this isn’t the contract the Kings look to take.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
OTHER KINGS ARTICLES FROM SEPTEMBER
Kings re-sign Carl Grundstrom and Austin Wagner Analyzing Austin Wagner’s new contract SHORT READ: Kings loan Carl Grundstrom Reviewing last week's polls (September 7): Kings Edition SHORT READ: Kings loan Jacob Moverare SHORT READ: Kings re-sign Sean Walker Analyzing Sean Walker's new contract Kings should re-sign Ben Hutton Examining the Kings' cap situation Reviewing this week's polls (September 20): Kings Edition SHORT READ: Kings loan five prospects to Eisbà¤ren Berlin (DEL) Which contracts in the Atlantic Division could the Kings take for assets? Which contracts in the Metro Division could the Kings take for assets? Which contracts in the Central Division could the Kings take for assets?