Ben Shelley: Examining the Kings' cap situation

How about bringing in a guy like Matt Nieto, as So Cal kid.

The biggest point to note is probably the disparity between the cap hit and the salary due this year. Even though they're currently sitting at $64.5M in cap, the actual salary due is only $44M. So even if AEG has set an internal cap on the Kings this season, it's likely on dollars and not on cap space. The Kings could acquire some bad contracts like Loui Eriksson, who carries a cap hit of $6M, but would only be due $1M in salary this season by the Kings (his $3M bonus was paid by Vancouver on July 1). That would bring the Kings cap hit to $70.5M, with only $45M in actual cash salary going out. Internal spend limits aren't going to be an issue for LA.

As for the roster makeup this season, the only question-marks are who is going to be the veteran LHD that the Kings bring in, which LHD rookie will get called up from Ontario, and who will be the extra forwards.

At forward, Grundstrom is no longer waiver exempt and will automatically get a roster spot. With Prokhorkin's departure, that likely pencils him in at 3rd (4th?) line LW along with Amadio and Carter. I suspect JAD will get the 13th forward spot, as he is one of the few guys from Ontario that has any professional hockey experience in North America. The 14th forward is up for grabs right now. The front-runner is probably Luff, although I could see the Kings being ready to move on from him. The dark horse candidate is Kupari. Like JAD, he already has some professional experience in Ontario. He had a slow start to the season, but was starting to look really good just prior to the WJC and his season-ending injury. The long offseason is good for him to rehab his knee, and he should be 100% by training camp in November. He's more likely to play in Ontario, but if he has a strong showing at training camp, he could steal a spot.

At defense, Doughty, Walker, Roy, Anderson, and MacDermid are all locks for the NHL. As many have stated previously, MacDermid is currently the only defenseman that will qualify for the expansion draft exposure requirement, and he needs another 25 games before he hits that threshold. Another rookie will get the 6/7 spot, and at this point it's a coin flip between Clague and Bjornfot. While I think Bjornfot is probably more NHL ready, I think there are a number of factors that will make Clague the likely choice.

1. Expansion draft exposure: MacDermid is on track to satisfy this requirement, but if he gets injured prior to the 25 game mark, the Kings could be in a tough spot. While I think the Kings would like to protect Clague due to the premium that is placed on defensemen in the expansion draft, I think they would like to have him as a redundancy so they won't be forced to expose one of Walker or Roy. If MacDermid is injured before reaching 25 games, Clague will easily make the 40 game threshold as his roster replacement.

2. Bjornfot's ELC Slide: As a 19-year old, Bjornfot's ELC will slide an extra year if he doesn't reach 10 NHL games this season, pushing his ELC expiration out until 2024. If they can avoid it, I think the Kings would like to preserve that extra year of development without burning a year off of his ELC

3. New developmental coach in the AHL: With the hiring of John Wroblewski to coach the Reign, the Kings are set to have a quality developmental system for the kids that play in Ontario. Bjornfot is set to be a long-term fixture on the Kings' blue line. I don't know that the same can be said for Clague. If they have to promote a player to the NHL before being ready and risk a developmental setback, I think they choose Clague.

4. Skill vs. Toughness: Having MacDermid in the lineup as a 6/7 option gives the Kings a physical presence that can play against teams that require it, such as Anaheim or Calgary. However, they're not always going to need that physical presence and would sometimes benefit from replacing him with a skill option. The Kings can switch off between scratching MacDermid and Clague, depending on what presence the opponent calls for. If the Kings call up Bjornfot, he's going to be a regular in the lineup, and isn't going to be scratched in favor of MacDermid on some nights.

5. Clague can play on the right: Despite being a LHD, Clague has played much of the last two seasons on the right side in the AHL due to a shortage of guys at that position. They tried MacDermid at RHD on the Kings a few times, and it did not work out well. Having Clague in the lineup gives the Kings the flexibility of being able to have him fill in for injuries on both the right and left sides, a capability they lost when Martinez was traded.

The only other remaining question is who the veteran LHD is that gets brought in. As previously discussed, Ben Hutton is an option, but I don't think he's a good one. If the Kings bring up Clague instead of Bjornfot (as I suspect they will), they will need whoever this is to play big minutes next to Doughty. Hutton is a decent depth option, but isn't capable or worthy of big minutes. I think the best options are available by trade, and as I discussed previously, I'd like them to pursue one of Leddy or Hjalmarsson. Both should be available due to the cap situations of their current clubs. Leddy would probably be the better option since he has 2 years remaining and would satisfy the expansion exposure requirements after only 10 games. That gives the Kings some flexibility on what they can do over the rest of the season. Hjalmarsson would be a good option as well, although he does nothing to satisfy the exposure requirements since his current deal expires next summer.

Get Pietrangelo, you know you wanna

Get Pietrangelo, you know you wanna
- General Mokus

Don't think we want to spend $9M on a 2RD.

Internal spend limits aren't going to be an issue for LA.
- tkecanuck341

Any other year, that's probably true, but every team is going to lose a lot of money next year from lack of attendance. Anschutz might appreciate keeping the payroll as low as possible, especially in a year in which the team isn't expected to be competitive. Now, as you said, if they can take on a high cap hit like Eriksson who's owed very little actual salary, that'd be a good option.

The biggest point to note is probably the disparity between the cap hit and the salary due this year. Even though they're currently sitting at $64.5M in cap, the actual salary due is only $44M. So even if AEG has set an internal cap on the Kings this season, it's likely on dollars and not on cap space. The Kings could acquire some bad contracts like Loui Eriksson, who carries a cap hit of $6M, but would only be due $1M in salary this season by the Kings (his $3M bonus was paid by Vancouver on July 1). That would bring the Kings cap hit to $70.5M, with only $45M in actual cash salary going out. Internal spend limits aren't going to be an issue for LA.

As for the roster makeup this season, the only question-marks are who is going to be the veteran LHD that the Kings bring in, which LHD rookie will get called up from Ontario, and who will be the extra forwards.

At forward, Grundstrom is no longer waiver exempt and will automatically get a roster spot. With Prokhorkin's departure, that likely pencils him in at 3rd (4th?) line LW along with Amadio and Carter. I suspect JAD will get the 13th forward spot, as he is one of the few guys from Ontario that has any professional hockey experience in North America. The 14th forward is up for grabs right now. The front-runner is probably Luff, although I could see the Kings being ready to move on from him. The dark horse candidate is Kupari. Like JAD, he already has some professional experience in Ontario. He had a slow start to the season, but was starting to look really good just prior to the WJC and his season-ending injury. The long offseason is good for him to rehab his knee, and he should be 100% by training camp in November. He's more likely to play in Ontario, but if he has a strong showing at training camp, he could steal a spot.

At defense, Doughty, Walker, Roy, Anderson, and MacDermid are all locks for the NHL. As many have stated previously, MacDermid is currently the only defenseman that will qualify for the expansion draft exposure requirement, and he needs another 25 games before he hits that threshold. Another rookie will get the 6/7 spot, and at this point it's a coin flip between Clague and Bjornfot. While I think Bjornfot is probably more NHL ready, I think there are a number of factors that will make Clague the likely choice.

1. Expansion draft exposure: MacDermid is on track to satisfy this requirement, but if he gets injured prior to the 25 game mark, the Kings could be in a tough spot. While I think the Kings would like to protect Clague due to the premium that is placed on defensemen in the expansion draft, I think they would like to have him as a redundancy so they won't be forced to expose one of Walker or Roy. If MacDermid is injured before reaching 25 games, Clague will easily make the 40 game threshold as his roster replacement.

2. Bjornfot's ELC Slide: As a 19-year old, Bjornfot's ELC will slide an extra year if he doesn't reach 10 NHL games this season, pushing his ELC expiration out until 2024. If they can avoid it, I think the Kings would like to preserve that extra year of development without burning a year off of his ELC

3. New developmental coach in the AHL: With the hiring of John Wroblewski to coach the Reign, the Kings are set to have a quality developmental system for the kids that play in Ontario. Bjornfot is set to be a long-term fixture on the Kings' blue line. I don't know that the same can be said for Clague. If they have to promote a player to the NHL before being ready and risk a developmental setback, I think they choose Clague.

4. Skill vs. Toughness: Having MacDermid in the lineup as a 6/7 option gives the Kings a physical presence that can play against teams that require it, such as Anaheim or Calgary. However, they're not always going to need that physical presence and would sometimes benefit from replacing him with a skill option. The Kings can switch off between scratching MacDermid and Clague, depending on what presence the opponent calls for. If the Kings call up Bjornfot, he's going to be a regular in the lineup, and isn't going to be scratched in favor of MacDermid on some nights.

5. Clague can play on the right: Despite being a LHD, Clague has played much of the last two seasons on the right side in the AHL due to a shortage of guys at that position. They tried MacDermid at RHD on the Kings a few times, and it did not work out well. Having Clague in the lineup gives the Kings the flexibility of being able to have him fill in for injuries on both the right and left sides, a capability they lost when Martinez was traded.

The only other remaining question is who the veteran LHD is that gets brought in. As previously discussed, Ben Hutton is an option, but I don't think he's a good one. If the Kings bring up Clague instead of Bjornfot (as I suspect they will), they will need whoever this is to play big minutes next to Doughty. Hutton is a decent depth option, but isn't capable or worthy of big minutes. I think the best options are available by trade, and as I discussed previously, I'd like them to pursue one of Leddy or Hjalmarsson. Both should be available due to the cap situations of their current clubs. Leddy would probably be the better option since he has 2 years remaining and would satisfy the expansion exposure requirements after only 10 games. That gives the Kings some flexibility on what they can do over the rest of the season. Hjalmarsson would be a good option as well, although he does nothing to satisfy the exposure requirements since his current deal expires next summer.
- tkecanuck341

This is more than Ben Shelley has written cumulatively about the kings for this site.

I think we should weaponize our cap space and take on a bad contract or two (with no more than two years left) for more picks down the road. When I look at Carolina getting a first rounder for taking the last two years of Patrick Marleau's contract it makes me sick that we didn't do that deal. We should shoot for 2022 / 23 draft picks since we are pretty set this year. There will be deals to be made, especially with the expansion draft coming up.

I think we should weaponize our cap space and take on a bad contract or two (with no more than two years left) for more picks down the road. When I look at Carolina getting a first rounder for taking the last two years of Patrick Marleau's contract it makes me sick that we didn't do that deal. We should shoot for 2022 / 23 draft picks since we are pretty set this year. There will be deals to be made, especially with the expansion draft coming up.
- KingsFan67

There are two types of deals the Kings should look for:

1. Bad contract+picks
2. Bad contract+RFA rights

The latter category is limited to the offseason. Although I highly doubt this particular scenario would happen, if TBL offered Ty Johnson and Cirelli's RFA rights for a 3rd, I hope the Kings would take that.

Otherwise, the Kings should be patient and not give up cap space for cheap. Cap space is a limited asset. "More" isn't being produced in the near future. With each deal other teams make to dump bad contracts, that space becomes more valuable as there is less of it.

The biggest point to note is probably the disparity between the cap hit and the salary due this year. Even though they're currently sitting at $64.5M in cap, the actual salary due is only $44M. So even if AEG has set an internal cap on the Kings this season, it's likely on dollars and not on cap space. The Kings could acquire some bad contracts like Loui Eriksson, who carries a cap hit of $6M, but would only be due $1M in salary this season by the Kings (his $3M bonus was paid by Vancouver on July 1). That would bring the Kings cap hit to $70.5M, with only $45M in actual cash salary going out. Internal spend limits aren't going to be an issue for LA.
- tkecanuck341

This is an outstanding point. AEG is taking hits everywhere with its arenas. Any flexibility the front office will be given for roster maneuvers will likely be limited to a less-than-flexible budget.

This is more than Ben Shelley has written cumulatively about the kings for this site.
- Udogs

I realize that you're making a joke, but it seems rather rude to Ben. He's done an awesome job, especially considering that he's an outsider and covers 4 other teams on this site. Give him a break.