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NHL Trade Rumors: Los Angeles Kings Seek Offensive Spark

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
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NHL Trade Rumors: Los Angeles Kings Seek Offensive Spark

The Los Angeles Kings need more offense and Ken Holland remains an impatient general manager. 

With Phil Danault, Andrei Kuzmenko and Trevor Moore combining for just seven goals, the Kings’ struggles are evident. 

Entering Saturday night’s matchup against the Chicago Blackhawks at crypto.com Arena, the Kings rank 28th in the NHL with 2.56 goals per game. 

Holland reportedly has $4 million in salary cap space available to help facilitate a deal.

Los Angeles Kings Looking To Deal To Meet Goals 

The Kings (12-8-7) entered the season as a legitimate postseason contender, and despite the lack of scoring, they remain in third place in the Pacific Division, four points behind the Anaheim Ducks (17-10-1).  

The steady goaltending of Darcy Kuemper, who ranked 10th with a 2.36 goals-against average, the defensive work of Drew Doughty (plus-8 rating) and Mikey Anderson (plus-6) helped offset the lack of offense. 

So far. 

To remain in the playoff race, Holland may need to land a playmaker or two to boost the top-six slaters. Right winger Adrian Kempe (23 points) paced the Kings, but ranked No. 61st among NHL skaters. Right winger Quinton Byfield ranked second on the team with 19 points, including four goals. Left winger Kevin Fiala paced the team with 10 goals, good for 49th in the league.  

Center appears to be a position of need. Outside of proven veteran Anze Kopitar (14 points), the next three centers, Alex Turcotte, Samuel Helenius and Danault, collected a combined one goal and seven assists. 

 New York Islanders center Brock Nelson, a 33-year-old who will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season, could be a quick fix, but Holland will likely scout younger players like Buffalo Sabres center Dylan Cozens, who is skating in the second of a seven-year contract. 

Montreal Canadiens center Jake Evans continues to piece together a solid two-way campaign. The 28-year-old late-bloomer could be a popular deadline attraction if Holland doesn’t act quickly.

Jeff Hawkins Written by Sports EditorJeff Hawkins
Jeff Hawkins is an award-winning sportswriter with more than four decades in the industry, in both print and digital media. He joined the Sportscasting team in 2021 following a decade of freelancing. He spent his early career as a reporter for various newspapers in Illinois, New York, Florida, North Carolina, and Michigan, with a particular emphasis as a beat reporter for the Chicago Blackhawks. Jeff earned his bachelor's degree in journalism from Oakland University. Over the course of his career he earned several sports writing awards, including two national awards from the Associated Press Sports Editors for column writing and news reporting. One of the five prized columns included a commentary on NASCAR's increasing corporate influences, particularly in northern racetracks — commentary which you might find Jeff building on as part of the Motorsports writing team at Sportscasting now.  
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