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The Los Angeles Kings’ defense group suffered through significant injury trouble this season. With all the absences, however, younger players were able to take advantage of the opportunity and earn a large role with the Kings.
Sean Durzi stepped up in a huge way, scoring 27 points in 64 games and averaging close to 20 minutes per game. Jordan Spence also got an opportunity later in the year and played 24 games with the team, managing eight assists.
What this means now though is the Kings have a lot of defenders for not a whole lot of spots, especially on the right side. Between the five right-handed defensemen in Drew Doughty, Sean Durzi, Matt Roy, Sean Walker and Jordan Spence, not to mention 2021 eighth-overall pick Brandt Clarke, something’s going to have to give.
Spence is still just 20 years old and is waivers exempt, so he could head back to the AHL for the start of next season, while Clarke could possibly land back in junior, though that likely isn’t an ideal option. Durzi, on the other hand, has solidified himself as a full-time NHL defenseman and while he still needs to round out his game defensively, he’s an excellent playmaker and adds a ton of value offensively.
Roy and Walker are in a strange spot. There’s always a chance one of them could play on the left side, but it’s not even a guarantee there’s room for them there. Mikey Anderson is a lock while Tobias Bjornfot should be on the bottom pairing and then even if Alex Edler and Olli Maatta both walk away, we could see the Kings go after a legitimate top-four left defenseman, which would still leave someone on the outs.
An obvious solution would be to keep Roy given how important he was this season and move Walker instead. On the other hand, Roy’s value has probably never been higher and if the Kings expect Durzi to become a top-four defenseman (not to mention both Clarke and Spence projecting as a potential offensive, top-four defenders as well), Roy could end up in a lesser role not too far down the road anyways.
That said, it's a lot more likely that Walker is traded to create space in their defense group. Given the Kings are looking to be a consistent playoff team now, they’ll care more about who will have the better impact in their lineup rather than really considering a trade return. There just still isn’t necessarily a clear course of action for the team, given that they could also look to package a younger right-handed defenseman in some sort of a trade to improve elsewhere.
While it remains to be seen how the Kings will do it, moving at least one of their right-handed defensemen this offseason seems extremely likely.
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