LA Kings 2023 Offseason in Review 

With the Kings’ 2023 Training Camp now less than 24 hours away, it’s time to get excited about the 2023-24 season...if you aren’t already! Before setting the table for the chaotic preseason schedule ahead, it’s time to catch you up on the active summer for the Kings. Filled with trades, free-agent signings and re-signings, the Kings have a number of new faces that are projected to play prominent roles in the upcoming season.

To recap and refresh, the Kings first freed up $5,240,000 of cap space in a three-way trade with the Philadelphia Flyers and Columbus Blue Jackets. After five seasons, six seasons and two seasons with the Kings organization respectively, Sean Walker, Cal Petersen and Helge Grans were all traded to the Flyers along with the Kings 2024 second-round draft pick. In return, the Kings received forward Hayden Hodgson and defenseman Kevin Connauton. Connauton comes to the Kings with 360 NHL games under his belt, while Hodgson enters his seventh professional season with seven NHL games played in his career.

Next, the Kings re-signed their prized pick-up at the 2023 trade deadline Vladislav Gavrikov. Gavrikov and the Kings agreed on a two-year extension, carrying a $5.875M AAV. Gavrikov notched nine points (3-6=9) in 20 games with the Kings after coming over from the Blue Jackets in March earlier this year. The defensive pair of Gavrikov and Matt Roy was stout when they were paired together last season and the two are projected to play together to begin the season, solidifying the Kings’ top four blueliners.

Three weeks after the Gavrikov extension, the Kings traded Sean Durzi for a 2024 second-round pick to the Arizona Coyotes, again creating space in both the salary cap department and on the roster. Durzi departed the Kings having played 136 games, recording 65 points (12-53=65) over the past two seasons.

The biggest offseason move of course came on June 27th, just three days after the Durzi trade, when the Kings acquired forward Pierre-Luc Dubois via trade from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for forwards Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari and the 2024 second-round pick from Arizona. Dubios, who was an impending RFA with the Jets, agreed to terms with the Kings on an 8-year, $8.5M AAV contract, helping strengthen the Kings down the middle. Dubois, the former third-overall pick in the 2016 NHL Draft, brings a combination of skill and grit as through 434 career games, Dubois has totaled 302 points and 383 penalty minutes throughout his career.

With the acquisition of the Dubois, the Kings parted ways with a pair of former first-round picks - Gabriel Vilardi and Rasmus Kupari - as well as six-year veteran Alex Iafallo. Combined, the three played 702 games for the organization and totaled 311 points.

As the calendar flipped into July, the Kings made a splash in free agency, bringing in depth at multiple positions. Notably at the goaltender position, the Kings signed veterans Cam Talbot and David Rittich to one-year deals. The signing of Talbot reunites the goalie with his former head coach Todd McLellan, after the two were together in Edmonton. Under McLellan for three-plus seasons, Talbot put together the best season of his career, going 42-22-8 with a .919 SV% and 2.39 GAA in 2016-17. Talbot comes to LA after one season with the Ottawa Senators where he went 17-14-2. The addition of Rittich brings in another goalie with plenty of NHL experience. Rittich has gone 79-51-21 in seven seasons in the NHL with four teams.

Defensively, the Kings signed the 27-year-old Swede, Andreas Englund, on a two-year contract, carrying an AAV of $1,000,000. Englund, a left-handed defenseman, enters the mix of options on the third pair on the left side. Englund has played parts of five seasons in the NHL and has a total of 80 career NHL games to his résumé, including 47 during the 2022-23 season with Colorado and Chicago.

Up front, the Kings added a familiar face in the free agency market, bringing back two-time Stanley Cup champion Trevor Lewis. After three seasons away from LA, the Kings' first-round pick in 2006 returns on a one-year, $775,000 deal. Lewis brings with him 892 games of veteran experience, with the ability to add to a penalty kill unit and contribute effectively in his role. 

The Kings also added forward Mikhail Maltsev, as well as defensemen Joe Hicketts and Steven Santini, on one-year contracts. 

Lastly, beyond the Gavrikov extension, the Kings re-signed seven players over the summer, bringing several familiar faces back into the fold. Highlighting that group is an extension for captain Anze Kopitar,  a two-year extension that will begin at the beginning of the 2024-25 season.

Moving forward, the Kings will kick off their 2023 Training Camp tomorrow morning in Melbourne, Australia. The Kings arrived in Melbourne earlier today, in advance of the 2023 Global Series. The 28-man roster for the Global Series can be found here. The Kings will open their exhibition slate this coming weekend, with a pair of games in Melbourne against the Arizona Coyotes.

Acquisitions
Kevin Connauton (PHI via trade)
Hayden Hodgson (PHI via trade)
Pierre-Luc Dubois (WPG via trade)
Cam Talbot (UFA)
David Rittich (UFA)
Trevor Lewis (UFA)
Andreas Englund (UFA)
Mikhail Maltsev (UFA)
Steven Santini (UFA)
Joe Hicketts (UFA)

Re-Signings
Anze Kopitar (2-years, $7M AAV, beginning 2024-25 season)
Vladislav Gavrikov (2-years, $5.875M AAV)
Tobias Bjornfot (2-years, $775,000 AAV)
Jaret Anderson-Dolan (1-year, $775,000)
Samuel Fagemo (1-year, two-way deal)
Tyler Madden (1-year, two-way deal)
Akil Thomas (1-year, two-way deal)
Taylor Ward (1-year, two-way deal)

Departures
Sean Walker (PHI)
Cal Petersen (PHI)
Helge Grans (PHI)
LAK 2024 Second-Round Draft Pick (PHI)
Sean Durzi (ARI)
Gabriel Vilardi (WPG)
Alex Iafallo (WPG)
Rasmus Kupari (WPG)

2023 NHL Draft Picks
54. Jakob Dvorak (Liberec Bili Tygri HC, Czechia)
78. Koehn Ziemmer (Prince George Cougars, WHL)
118. Hampton Slukynsky (Warroad High School, MN HS)
150. Matthew Mania (Sudbury Wolves, OHL)
182. Eric Conmy (Sioux City Musketeers, USHL)