The Los Angeles Kings were relatively quiet on day one of free agency, adding a few depth pieces to complement the addition of Tanner Jeannot on draft day. 

In isolation, some of the moves looked good. I like the addition of Jeannot to replace Carl Grundstrom on the fourth line and Warren Foegele is a solid middle six option. 

Depth is never a bad thing, but the Kings need more than depth. 

The idea of sprinkling in a few young, skilled players into the top nine was cause for some optimism, however, in a recent article at LAKingsInsider, Rob Blake revealed his plans for the Kings top nine. 

Alex Laferriere-Anze Kopitar-Adrian Kempe

Trevor Moore-Phil Danault-Tanner Jeannot 

Kevin Fiala-Quinton Byfield-Warren Foegele

The point was made that order doesn't matter here, but for sake of ease we'll consider Anze Kopitar's line the first line, Phil Danault's the second and Quinton Byfield's the third. 

This top nine looks uninspiring to say the least. 

I get the idea they're going for, having three skilled center-wing pairs you complement with a few hard-working wingers to round out a difficult to play against top nine. 

Great in theory, but you still need top nine players to pull it off. 

Barring some drastic improvements this summer, Alex Laferriere isn't a top-six, let alone top-line, winger. 

Jeannot is not a top-six winger, especially to replace either Kevin Fiala or Viktor Arvidsson next to Moore and Danault. 

Foegele is the one player who I think is okay in his current spot, but not enough to put this top nine over the top. 

Comparing to last seasons group, they have significantly improved with Byfield over Pierre-Luc Dubois. 

However, replacing Byfield on the top line with Laferriere is a massive downgrade and either of Jeannot or Foegele is a big downgrade on Arvidsson. 

This forward group is weaker than last seasons. 

The article did go on to point out that these lines aren't set in stone and some young forwards like Alex Turcotte, Akil Thomas and Samuel Fagemo will have a chance to earn ice time from the fourth line. 

But as I've often said, that isn't how you develop players. You can't expect this players to shine in fourth line roles that don't suit their game. 

The Kings have made this mistake time and time again with skilled young forwards, wanting them to "earn" ice time in a role that doesn't make sense for them and more often than not those forwards have flamed out. 

Maybe Thomas is a fit, but Turcotte and Fagemo are not. Particularly Fagemo. 

Expecting him to have any success on a fourth line is foolish. 

On Tuesday I talked about the need to commit to young forwards and use this season as a transition year, but that doesn't appear to be the plan. 

Instead, the Kings will play more veteran players, and Laferriere, in too great a role while also not developing some of their more skilled young players. 

Combined with the team getting weaker defensively and it's hard to see a world where this team doesn't regress next season. 

Of course, maybe I'm wrong. It's July 3, at time of writing and there could be more moves to come. 

Maybe Jeannot re-discovers his rookie year scoring, Laferriere takes a huge step forward and Foegele finds new offensive levels playing with Byfield and Fiala. 

All while there's no regression from Kopitar or Drew Doughty at 37 and 34 respectively. 

All of those are possibilities and some might happen. But the Kings are resting next season on a lot of ifs and maybes.