I’m a big hockey fan and my favorite NHL team is the Los Angeles Kings.
Free agency began earlier this morning at 12:00 p.m. EST time. 09:00 am in my current PST time zone.
For Los Angeles Kings fans some nice signings have already taken place. I will update this post if any further signings take place pertaining to the Kings, as time allows on my end.
I’m using the NHL SIGNINGS TRACKER from TSN to follow all of today’s latest moves.
LA KINGS SIGNINGS
Corey Perry (LW)
- 1 Year
- “LeBrun reports Perry’s salary plus bonuses totals around $3.5 million.”
- Specific terms yet to be disclosed at this time.
I think this is a great addition to the team. Perry Provides grit, veteran leadership, and copious playoff experience. I imagine he’ll play left wing on the third line with Phillip Danault (C) and Alex Laferriere (RW) on right wing.
Joel Armia (RW)
- 2 Years
- Salary $5.00 Million
- Cap Hit $2.50 Million
I’m less familiar with Joel, but his stats with MTL look good. I could see him playing right wing on the second line with Quinton Byfield (C) and Kevin Fiala (LW) or on the third line with Phillip Danult (C) as his center and newly signed Perry (LW) as his other winger. That could be a ferocious third line. One of the most experienced in the NHL.
Anton Forsberg (G)
- 2 Years
- Salary $4.50 Million
- Cap Hit $2.25 Million
Forsberg will serve as a solid backup to staring goalie Darcy Kumper. Filling the role vacated by backup goalie David Rittich earlier today after he signed a deal with the New York Islanders earlier today. Forsberg also provides some insurance as Phoniex Copley (G) recovers from ACL Surgery which took place last year.
Brian Dumoulin (D)
- 3 Years
- Salary $12.00 Million
- Cap Hit $4.00 Million
Dumoulin provides veteran experience to the Kings blueline. Quoting from nhl.com;
“A two-time Stanley Cup Champion with Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and ’17, Dumoulin joins the Kings as a veteran of 706 career NHL regular-season games over parts of 12 seasons between the Devils, Ducks, Seattle Kraken (2023-24) and Penguins (2013-23), amassing 177 points (28-149=177) with a cumulative plus-95 rating. Dumoulin’s best NHL season came in the 2022-23 campaign where he established career-marks in games played (82), assists (24), points (1-24=25) and blocked shots (142) while maintaining 20:38 minutes of TOI/GP. Dumoulin has added 25 points (4-21=25) in 86 career Stanley Cup Playoff games.”
Cody Ceci (D)
- 4 Years
- Salary $18.00 Million
- Cap Hit $4.50 Million
Dumoulin provides even more veteran experience to the Kings blueline. Quoting from nhl.com;
“Ceci, 31, joins the Kings after splitting the 2024-25 campaign with the San Jose Sharks and Dallas Stars, recording 24 points (4-20=24) with 24 penalty minutes (PIM) and 21:13 minutes of time-on-ice (TOI) in 85 combined regular-season games. His 85 games played are the second-most played in a single season in NHL history behind Bob Kudelski (86 GP in 1993-94) and Jimmy Carson (86 GP in 1992-93). After his debut with Dallas on Feb. 2, 2025, the 6-3, 210-pound blueliner established a team-best plus-15 rating in the final 31 regular-season games with the club and added three assists (0-3=3) in 18 Stanley Cup Playoff games.”
New Kings GM Ken Holland, obviously has his favorite’s from his time as the Edmonton Oilers GM. With today’s additions of Ceci and Perry. Hopefully he can keep the momentum going and the Kings will have a shot at landing Conor McDavid either via trade some time this year or during free agency next year as the final year of his current contract plays out. I think McDavid would fit in well with the current Kings lineup and even better, should longtime captain and fan favorite Anze Kopitar choose to retire at the end of the 2025-2026 campaign. I would prefer for Kopitar to play as long as he can and/or wants to. There is room for both of them should the stars align.
Back to Cody Ceci, I’ve seen some criticism online of this signing. Since it’s been a slow year in Hollywood, I watched more Stanley Cup Playoffs this year than I have since I was a teenager. Cody looked good in the series I watched him in for the most part. Playing big minuets for the Dallas Stars against top opponents averaging 21:31 time on ice (TOI) in the playoffs this past year.
Taylor Ward (RW)
- 1 Year
- Salary $775.0 Thousand
- Cap Hit $775.0 Thousand
- Two-way contract
Logan Brown (C)
- 1 Year
- Salary $775.0 Thousand
- Cap Hit $775.0 Thousand
- Two-way contract
Samuel Bolduc (D)
- 1 Year
- Salary $775.0 Thousand
- Cap Hit $775.0 Thousand
- Two-way contract
Cole Guttman (C)
- 1 Year
- Salary $1.55 Million
- Cap Hit $775.0 Thousand
- Two-way contract
LA KINGS SAY GOODBYE TOO
- Signed with NYR.
- 7 Years
- Salary $49.00 Million
- Cap Hit $7.00 Million
I will miss Gavrikov (D), he played great for the Kings all year in both the regular season and playoffs. Filling in with major defensive minutes after Drew Doughty’s (D) brutal preseason injury. Him and Brandt Clarke were a good defensive pairing at times and his style of play fit in well with the Kings system. However, I’m happy the King’s didn’t over spend on retaining him. Even in his absence they still have one of the strongest defensive cores in the NHL. With the following players as their projected starters on defense for next season:
- Defensive Pairing 1
- Mikey Anderson + Drew Doughty
- Defensive Pairing 2
- Joel Edmundson + Brandt Clarke
- Defensive Pairing 3
- Jacob Moverare + Kyle Burroughs
Tanner Jeannot (LW)
- Singed BOS
- 5 Years
- Salary $17.00 Million
- Cap Hit $3.40 Million
Jeannot is a solid role player, who never really seemed to fit in with the Kings last year moving in and out of the lineup at times as a healthy scratch. He will fit in well with a rebuilding Boston Bruins team.
David Rittich (G)
- Singed NYI
- 1 Year
- Salary $1.00 Million
- Cap Hit $1.00 Million
Rittich was a great backup for the Kings for the last couple of years. He did a great job filling in for an injured Darcy Kumper last fall during the 2024-2025 season.
Other USEFUL Hockey LInks
Los Angeles Kings NHL Line Combinations
NHL
ABBREVIATION KEY
(LW) = Left Wing
(RW) = Right Wing
(C) = Center
(D) = Defense
(G) = Goalie
Music Listened To While Writing This Post
Jane Original National Geographic Motion Picture Soundtrack – Philip Glass
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Written on MacBook Pro and iPad Pro using Drafts Pro in Markdown.
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