LAK AT THE DEADLINE: LOS ANGELES HOLD ‘EM

LOS ANGELES, CA – A Tyler Toffoli reunion? Nuh uh. A Vladimir Tarasenko rental? Not this season. A Juuse Saros deal? Save it for the summer.

If you were expecting a significant trade from Los Angeles Kings General Manager Rob Blake by the 2024 Trade Deadline, you haven’t been paying attention… since Opening Night.

In this rollercoaster ride of a season, the one constant was the core of this team built last summer was not changing. The Kings started the season at the salary cap ceiling carrying less than the full complement of players and they will play Game 82 with a similar roster. There have been some small changes borne out of necessity through injuries but if you were expecting an impact player landing on the corner of 11th and Figueroa by noon Pacific on Friday, it was never in the cards.

Could they have used the help? Given what the Colorado Avalanche, Edmonton Oilers and Vegas Golden Knights executed this week, it couldn’t have hurt. Even with the expected return of three forwards and one defenseman (Adrian Kempe, Viktor Arvidsson, Carl Grundstrom, and Mikey Anderson) before the end of the regular-season, an addition of another forward with touch around the net would have made them better equipped to win a playoff round for the first time in 10 years.

The paper transactions over the last week were not the precursor of an impact trade, literally no cap space benefit resulted. A more substantial player would have to have been moved out to get the cap space to bring in a player of consequence – the obvious choice was pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Matt Roy, the less obvious would be moving Arvidsson – but with coach Jim Hiller re-establishing confidence along with an 9-4-1 record since his installation, to break up a defense (which includes the NHL’s best penalty kill) that has reestablished its ability to shut down opponents was too risky.

You can’t blame Kings fans for having a severe case of FOMO when the dust settled – watching the prime Western conference competitors adding multiple impact players in a matter of hours. But the Kings die was cast on June 27 of last year with the execution of the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade which was always going to be (and still will be) the determining transaction of the 2023-24 season. The encouraging part of the past two weeks is despite the Kings being significantly short-handed they’ve leaned into what made them successful in the season’s early days, their sticky defensive scheme along with a return to form of goaltender Cam Talbot (and some quality help from David Rittich) between the pipes.

Even if Kempe and Arvidsson can return to form (far more likely with Kempe than Arvidsson given the latter has played 3+ games in the past calendar year), Los Angeles’ path to post season success wasn’t going to be by overpowering teams offensively, why a Tyler Toffoli or Vladimir Tarasenko trade made theoretical sense.

The lack of salary cap space has been a constant but the additional lack of draft capital – specifically the 2024 second and third round picks that other teams used to import talent (surrendered in the stage-setting Cal Petersen/Sean Walker deal for Dubois and the Gavrikov/Joonas Korpisalo deal) – likely hindered Blake’s ability to make moves.

So, where does leave Los Angeles? It’s a matter of perspective.

The positive spin is if the Kings can finish in the top three in the Pacific (odds are higher now with the big Vegas moves) when watching them play against the other three Pacific big boys, they’ve not been overmatched against Vegas, Vancouver or Edmonton. There is a narrative that avoiding the Oilers, the Kings vanquishers in the last two postseasons is the preferable route but the results of the three games played (a shootout loss, a 4-0 win and a 4-2 game that was decided in the third period) says these teams are as close on paper as they are in the standings.

To “settle” for the wildcard at this point would mean that the team’s level of play down the stretch isn’t where it needs to be and the prospect of playing either the Pacific or Central Division winner – a team finishing the season strong – isn’t a winning combination.

I’m in the “win your games, finish as high as you can, take your chances” camp. As difficult as it will be to face the greatest player in the world who can singlehandedly win a series, it may be as difficult to defeat a team three consecutive postseasons.

The negative spin is the disappointing feeling a Kings fan must have watching teams ahead of Los Angeles in the standings getting significantly better over the past week (and prior to –Dallas added defenseman Christopher Tanev, Winnipeg got Sean Monahan) while Blake has his hands snuggly tied by the golden handcuffs of the big-ticket deals on the books (Dubois, Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty representing 35% of their salary cap and having to add Quinton Byfield to that percentage this summer).

This is the reality for a team that management said was built to win when everyone reconvened in September.