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The Los Angeles Kings made their first major move of the summer today, completing a three-team trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers.
The biggest name in the deal was Ivan Provorov, who went from the Flyers to Blue Jackets, with the Kings retaining 30 percent of his salary for the next two years. In exchange, the Flyers received two draft picks from the Blue Jackets (one of which was the Kings’ first-round pick that was traded in the Vladislav Gavrikov trade).
However, the Kings also sent several players to the Flyers in the deal, with goalie Cal Petersen plus defensemen Sean Walker and Helge Grans all heading to the Flyers, along with a second-round pick in next year’s draft.
The Kings also acquired defenseman Kevin Connauton and forward Hayden Hodgson as part of the trade. Connauton is 33 years old and Hodgson is 27 years old – both players have another year remaining on their respective contract.
It’s a massive move for Los Angeles to clear cap space, shedding two contracts which totalled a $7.65 million cap hit. It didn’t come without a bit of a cost, as the Kings will be on the hook for about $2 million of Provorov’s contract for the next two years, and also sent the Flyers a good pick and prospect in exchange.
All things considered though, this is a win for the Kings. Walker was just a depth defensemen for the team at this point, while Petersen spent the majority of the season in the AHL. The duo were two of the three players I had listed as the team's biggest trade candidates in an article released this past weekend, with the last being Viktor Arvidsson. With significant cap space now cleared though, there's a good chance we see Arvidsson stay put.
A second-round pick obviously has value, but the Kings are in a spot where accumulating picks isn’t necessarily the priority right now. Then with Grans, the team is still so deep on the right side of their blue line that the loss isn’t really going to be felt.
The trade leaves the team in a significantly better spot, as they attempt to sign Gabriel Vilardi, Vladislav Gavrikov and Joonas Korpisalo.
QuizMaker
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