While the season is over for the teams out of the playoffs, gears are still turning on numerous things.
Wrapping up loose ends from the regular season, the upcoming NHL Entry draft, and of course the free agency period that opens July 1st. Another thing in regards to the latter, is actually getting extensions in place for those you do not want to lose come July 1st.
Last week the Kings made their first splash of the re-signing period with an extension agreed upon with pending restricted free agent Brayden McNabb.
If you were looking for thoughts on the deal, it certainly seems like a good one for the Kings in both term and dollar value.
Take a look at our breakdown of McNabb for reasons why.
While there are several others on the docket for the Kings to potentially lock up, like Trevor Lewis and restricted free agents Nic Dowd and Derek Forbort, none are as looming or pivotal as Milan Lucic.
The Kings took a pretty decent risk last offseason, giving up budding defenseman Colin Miller, a 1st round pick in the 2015 draft, and goaltender Martin Jones, for the soon to be 28 year old power forward.
The risk, however, paid off very well this season.
While the cost was high, Lucic made good on a 20-30 watermark, scoring 55 points with 20 goals, and at times performing as one of the best wingers on the Kings team. Even when he was not scoring, Lucic's physical brand of "Heavy" hockey fit in almost seamlessly with the Kings group. He spent almost the entire season saddled with Carter and/or Kopitar, and always helped those players be more productive than without him.
(Most notably Anze Kopitar)
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He was a positive possession player, and believe it or not, second on the team behind only Tyler Toffoli (goals) and Anze Kopitar (Points) in even strength goals (16) and points (40).
So from that standpoint, the acquisition of No. 17 has been a huge success.
The Kings, however, are approaching dangerous territory at the moment.
It's June 6th, still plenty of time to get a deal done to re-sign the forward, but news has not necessarily been reassuring as of late. It is a business, money numbers, term, and everything of a similar ilk take time. But that time is going day by day and it is perhaps starting to make fans a bit antsy.
Especially when things like the following tweets are the only newsworthy pieces regarding the Kings talks with Lucic that have come out:
Followed by this:
Then there was also the radio spot by Kings pundit Jon Hoven on NHL Network Radio, stating he doesn't believe Lucic will be with the Kings next year.
No one really knows what is going on in the camps of Milan Lucic or Dean Lombardi, and all we can do is speculate and formulate on information given. Right now it sounds like the desire is there, but the contract is hinging up on term, some money value, and perhaps a larger pay date looming from another team in the market. Edmonton and Vancouver have both been talked about as possibilities, and an under-30 Milan Lucic could probably get close to $7 Million from a non cap team.
Sometimes no news is good news, and that would probably be the case with contract negotiations. While there is nothing damning coming out at the moment, nothing from either side has seemed positive.
The Kings now find themselves in a very unique situation.
On one hand, the Kings would love to get more out of their investment on Milan Lucic. One year would certainly not feel like enough at all given what they gave up.
Colin Miller is looking like he could be a fine defenseman in this league, while Martin Jones could have been a nice chip elsewhere in the trade market that year. Also, with a prospect pool that is light in terms of blue chip quality, a mid 1st round pick would have been nice to have. The Bruins used that pick (13th overall) on Jakub Zboril.
On the flip side, Lucic proved to be a very good player and one the Kings are putting all due effort into re-signing. However, they are in a position where going overboard in terms of cap hit or term could handcuff them on a team already handcuffed by several contracts. While 500K a year and two extra years may not seem like a whole lot right now, it is money that could be allocated towards younger players in those years, and also two open years at the end of his contract. That could be huge in sustaining the life and core of the Kings team with younger players.
BUT the window is still now right? So pay him. Right?
But wait, maybe the $6 million they would give him now could be allocated towards another player. One in a trade perhaps. The name Tyson Barrie and Jacob Trouba have been floated around prominently already in this very nascent offseason.
There are a lot of angles you could approach in this one, and find both positives and negatives.
In all honesty however, it is starting to feel like a zero-sum game. That is, unless, the Kings can get him to sign to the exact right term and dollar amount. It is a tough situation for the Kings, but they may yet still make it work in a way where all parties (Fans and critics alike included) are satisfied.
If he walks it is really going to sting, considering what the Kings have given up in the last two years for other "rental" players that haven't worked out.
(Correction to tweet, McKeown was the Kings
2nd round pick, not a 1st. Although he was the first selection they had that season.)
However, If he stays at too high a price or term it will sting.
Nevertheless you would not say no in the short term to a productive Milan Lucic like the Kings had last season. Right? At what cost to the future, however, is always the question.
There is a balancing act going on right now, and with negotiations still ongoing and July 1st several weeks away, this one could swing back and forth multiple times before anyone really knows what is up.
Not positive today might be positive tomorrow. The beauty and terror of negotiating from an outsider's perspective.
Lucic is a massive domino for the Kings, and what happens with him likely dictates direction for the rest of the offseason roster moves.
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