LA Kings Trade Rumors: Kopitar to Wild

Let the LA Kings trade rumors begin! After an embarrassing 5-1 loss on opening night to the San Jose Sharks, there’s good reason for trade speculation.

More from Editorials

The Los Angeles Kings were coming off a bit of a Stanley Cup hangover last season, accompanied with a distraction from Slava Voynov which hurt the team on and off the ice. You could even throw in the Mike Richards situation along with Dustin Brown‘s diminished play that saw him play a lesser role.

Whatever you want to blame, there’s lots of things that you could have pointed to last year. But 2015-16 is a fresh start for the Kings with no excuses to begin the season. Yet, we were treated to a pathetic effort by the Kings on Wednesday night. So in comes the reasoning for the LA Kings trade rumors.

But lets be honest, Jonathan Quick didn’t look great, but he didn’t bad either. But two glaring holes stuck out to me that need to be addressed if this team wants to stay competitive in the west. The losses of Justin Williams, Jarrett Stoll, and Slava Voynov was evident. Additions Milan Lucic and Christian Ehrhoff don’t make up for the losses.

April 7, 2015; Edmonton, Alberta, CAN; Los Angeles Kings defenceman

Drew Doughty

(8), defenceman

Jake Muzzin

(6) and right winger

Marian Gaborik

(12) celebrate their goal against the Edmonton Oilers during the third period at Rexall Place. Oilers won 4-2 Mandatory Credit: Walter Tychnowicz- USA TODAY Sports

The first glaring issue from opening night was that the Kings defense core is simply not good enough. Drew Doughty, Alec Martinez, and Jake Muzzin are quality top 4 guys, but the drop off behind them is a bit alarming. Matt Greene is a nice gritty 5-6 type guy, but you don’t wanna have to depend on him too much. The Kings could use another true top 4 defenseman.

The second glaring issue can only be described as too much of the same complexion. It looks like a team Brian Burke would have assembled with all that toughness and truculence. You’ve got a ton of power forwards and grinders that love to throw the body in Dustin Brown, Milan Lucic, Kyle Clifford, Trevor Lewis, and Andy Andreoff. This team needs less grit and more speed up front.

You’ve got a couple big free agents at the end of the season in Milan Lucic and Anze Kopitar. It sounds as though Lucic could likely test the waters in free-agency. Logic would dictate locking down Anze Kopitar long-term. You just don’t know whether Los Angeles could afford to extend their star without losing some extremely valuable pieces in the future.

If it were almost any other team, I wouldn’t even suggest the idea of Anze Kopitar being traded, but the LA Kings are wild-cards. They’re not shy to make big deals as they proved in their efforts to bring in guys like Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Marian Gaborik, and more recently Milan Lucic.

Live Feed

LA Kings goaltending could be better than expected in 2023-24 /

Rink Royalty

LA Kings should consider taking a chance on these 2 free agentsRink Royalty

NHL 24: Predicting the highest rated players at every positionApp Trigger

2 forwards listed as "movable pieces" by the Los Angeles KingsRink Royalty

Quinton Byfield a Logical Trade Target for Philadelphia FlyersBroad Street Buzz

NHL 24 rookies: Every Round 1 pick in the 2023 NHL DraftApp Trigger

It won’t be long before LA Kings fans get familiarized with the name Valentin Zykov. He’s that speedy winger they could use right now. Unfortunately, he’s gonna need a season down in the AHL to marinate and get bigger physically to be ready for next season.

So let’s brew up some LA Kings trade rumors of a scenario that would make sense:

The goal is to find a team that feels like they’re a top line center away from winning a Stanley Cup (in case Kopitar can’t be re-signed by his new team). At the same time, that team has to be able to afford a top 4 defensive loss on the blue-line and have replacements in the ready to fill in or be willing to swap for Anze Kopitar + Jeff Schultz. Finding this rare combination won’t be easy.

Needs – Top 4 d-man + speed up front
Trade Bait – Anze Kopitar ($6.8 mil 1yr left), Kyle Clifford ($1.6 mil 5 yrs left), Trevor Lewis ($1.525 mil 1 yr left), Jeff Schultz ($850k 1 yr left)

LA Kings Cap Space: $3,008,940

Los Angeles trades Anze Kopitar & Jeff Schultz to Minnesota for Mikael Granlund ($3 mil 2 yrs left) and Marco Scandella ($4 mil 5 yrs left)

Minnesota Cap Space: $1,181,165

Mar 28, 2015; Saint Paul, MN, USA; Los Angeles Kings forward Mike Richards (10) takes the faceoff in the second period against the Minnesota Wild forward Mikael Granlund (64) at Xcel Energy Center. The Minnesota Wild beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

This is good ol’ hockey trade right here. It would only leave the Wild with roughly $500k in cap space but addresses needs on both sides. Mikko Koivu‘s play has slowed a bit in recent history and Granlund is being depended upon as a top-line center.

Problem is, he has Adam Oates like numbers. A ratio of 1:10 with goals to assists has drawn concerns with Minnesota’s fan base at his reluctance to shoot the puck. He’s only 23, and has a lot of room for his game to grow still.
Kopitar could step in and be that #1 center the Wild need to push them over the top.

When you can afford to send a guy like Mike Reilly down to the AHL, you can certainly afford to lose a roster d-man. Swapping Marco Scandella for Jeff Schultz would be the upgrade the Kings need. Schultz would make for a good veteran presence on a younger blue-line (besides Suter) and could be a good depth guy.

While Granlund would be a slight down-grade up front for the Kings, his playmaking ability would fit nicely with guys like Marian Gaborik and Jeff Carter around. Also makes for a cheaper re-signing than Anze Kopitar in two years.

The Minnesota Wild have had a lot of time with this core of guys that include Zach Parise, Jason Pominville, Ryan Suter, Mikko Koivu, and Thomas Vanek only to fall short year after year. This would be a message from Minnesota management that they’re serious about winning a Stanley Cup right now.

Next: Concerns with Calgary Flames Defense?

More from Puck Prose

Home/Editorials