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It's Official, Everyone is Re-Signed |
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The last domino fell on early Wednesday as it was reported by Elliotte Friedman that the Kings and Dwight King avoided arbitration and settled on a three-year deal.
It took a while for the money portion to come out, but anyone who guessed at $5.85MM or $1.95MM AAV needs to buy a lottery ticket today.
This means the Kings have officially dealt with all players needing contracts. Outside of Willie Mitchell, whom the Kings were unable to squeeze onto the roster, the entire cup winning team is now under contract.
How does the Dwight King contract in particular look? I'd say it's not a bad deal whatsoever for what DK brings to the table. The 25-year old King is coming of a positive season where he went 15/15, had positive possession numbers, and played solid minutes on the special teams unit.
Other cap hit comparables?
Andrew Shaw (CHI) - $2.0MM
Brian Boyle (NYR) - $2.0MM
Matt Hendricks (EDM) - $1.85MM
Torrey Mitchell (BUF) - $1.9MM
Zack Smith (OTT) - $1.7MM
Adam Burish (SJS) - $1.85MM
Given the cap hit comparables I'd say there are plenty of players of more questionable overall value making similar to Dwight King. Maybe he isn't the 50 point power forward people once dreamed of, but he is a very hard player to play against given his size, and he has a decent offensive sense about him. Thirty points is certainly nothing to scoff at, and he can fill in both a top-6 or bottom-6 role (Bottom ideally). Heck, he's also only 25 and there is plenty of time for him to peak a little bit more. At the expiration of this contract King will be 28, and by that time we should have a pretty good sense of what his capabilities are.
We also get three more years of this face.
That's just a win-win situation for everyone.
Overall the Kings are now 441K over the cap, but they have 24 men on the roster. This includes the 600K contract to Adam Cracknell who will in all likelihood be heading to the minors. Some other interesting tidbits, Jeff Schultz is also on the books with his 800K contract and Brayden McNabb (650K) and Andy Andreoff (550K) are both not on the active roster and not waiver exempt. So there are a few tweaks that are going to come most certainly, perhaps a trade. As it currently stands the Kings are at least one player too many no matter how you slice it. There is also a glut of bottom line players that all seemingly have the same skill set and are all vying for one spot.
Also, if anyone is keeping track, the Kings now have 11 players to re-sign after next season and just around $16.6MM to do so. Start doing your math now because it is going to get pretty complicated and if Dean Lombardi is somehow able to keep all of them I will be shocked.
I've listed it before but here it is for posterity.
UFA
Alec Martinez
Justin Williams
Adam Cracknell
Robyn Regehr
Jarret Stoll
RFA
Tanner Pearson*
Martin Jones
Tyler Toffoli*
Kyle Clifford
Jordan Nolan
Jake Muzzin
*ELCs
That's quite a hefty list with at least five to six major players on it. Pearson, Toffoli, Stoll, Williams, Martinez, and Muzzin.
Get your cap crunch helmets out. Next summer is going to be interesting.
I think there are definitely going to be some who find the King cap hit to be a bit high, but overall it is a fair contract to a player who fits the King style to a T. Not always the most adept in the offensive zone, but a full 200-foot player with a great work ethic who can drive defenders mad with his size and possession. At $1.95 a year that's decent value. If he is playing on the bottom lines that's your ideal skillset. If he is playing in the top-6 then you'd assume it is due to injury or inconsistency. Nonetheless he's a great, home-grown, bottom line winger for the Kings and they have him for another three years.
Thoughts and feelings?
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