The Los Angeles Kings have quite a bit of cap space remaining and it could be a good move to use that space to take back some bad contracts, in exchange for assets. Over the next week, I’ll look at which contracts the Kings could potentially trade for, broken down by division.
In this article, I’m only looking at deals that could potentially happen. This means that any of Detroit’s bad contracts, for example, haven’t been included, based on the fact that the Red Wings aren’t going to give up assets with a contract when they have a ton of cap space and aren’t looking to compete right now anyways. There are also some contracts like Kyle Okposo’s that are just too much money and term to take. Here are three options from the Atlantic Division:
KARL ALZNER (MONTREAL CANADIENS): $4.63M AAV for two years
While Alzner is an option, I do think he’s one of the least likely players on this list for the Kings to take. The Canadiens aren’t in much of a cap crunch right now and so long as they aren’t looking to make a major addition, they have the space to simply buy out Alzner’s contract. Considering how high of an AAV Alzner has, the cost should be pretty high to move the contract and likely one that Montreal wouldn’t pay, which is why I doubt that any deal here could materialize. That said, Montreal has three second-round picks this year and if the Kings made a reasonable offer, maybe the Canadiens would take it, with the hopes of using the extra cap space to make a big offseason addition.
BRAYDON COBURN (TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING): $1.7M AAV for one year
It may sound silly for a team to pay to move a $1.7 million contract with just a year remaining but if you have doubts, take a look at how many key restricted free agents the Lightning need to sign and how little cap space they have remaining. Every dollar is going to count for the Lightning and considering Coburn has been a scratch for the majority of the playoffs, perhaps Tampa Bay would give up a third or fourth-round pick to get rid of his contract. It’s important to note that Coburn does have a no-trade clause, so he'd need to waive it for a deal to be made. If he did, the contract wouldn’t have any effect on the Kings’ cap situation, so why not take a mid-round pick and add a bit of defensive depth in the process?
JOHN MOORE (BOSTON BRUINS): $2.75M AAV for three years
The Bruins signed Moore two years ago but with the team now crowded on the back end, it probably makes sense to get rid of Moore’s contract. He was a healthy scratch at times this season and played in just one playoff game. The Bruins may just decide to buy him out but if they go that route, they would have between $800,000 and $1.3 million counted against the cap in each of the next six seasons. I don’t know that Boston would pay a whole lot to get the contract taken off their hands rather than just using a buyout but it’s possible that the Bruins and Kings could swing a deal here.
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Here’s today’s poll question (results and discussion will be posted in a future article):
Which player do you think is the most likely option for the Kings to acquire in exchange for assets?
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