With Pacific Division counterparts Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks making big trades, the Los Angeles Kings are falling behind. What direction should GM Ken Holland take the Kings as the trade deadline gets closer?
Over the past 24 hours or so, the Vegas Golden Knights and San Jose Sharks have made a key addition each. While two Pacific Division clubs strengthen their teams via trades, the Los Angeles Kings remain outside of a playoff spot in the Western Conference.
With the Kings' divisional rivals improving and adding assets to their rosters, the pressure on GM Ken Holland will only grow leading into the Olympic roster freeze and to the March 6 NHL trade deadline.
The pressure won't necessarily be growing because the Kings need to make a move, although that could help in the short term. But the spotlight will be on the team and Holland in terms of the direction Los Angeles will be going as spring approaches.
As mentioned, the Kings are just outside of a playoff spot as they're sixth in the Pacific. Furthermore, coming off the weekend, the Kings were tied in points with three other teams in their division, including the Sharks, who are now third in the Pacific after a win on Monday.
The status of Los Angeles' divisional counterparts has been made clear.
It was a no-brainer that the Golden Knights continue to add, and they made a big move by acquiring defenseman Rasmus Andersson from the Calgary Flames. He'll be a massive boost to Vegas' back end as they already lead the division with two games in hand on second-place Edmonton Oilers.
As for the Sharks, they've been sellers for the last number of seasons. Although with a decent first half to the regular season, they find themselves in the playoff race.
As a result, San Jose GM Mike Grier acquired Kiefer Sherwood from the Vancouver Canucks, one of the highly-anticipated trade candidates and pending UFAs in the NHL. In addition, he led the Canucks in goals with 17 in 44 games and is one of two players with over 200 hits this year.
For the Kings, going into the season, they were expected to be playoff contenders, and naturally, they'd be buyers as the trade deadline gets closer.
However, with their start to this season, and the trends Los Angeles has shown lately, the team's direction isn't so clear anymore.
They have 51 points in 48 games. Thirteen of those points come from the team's 13 overtime defeats, as they own a 19-16-13 record.
Mitch Marner and Anze Kopitar (Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images)Given the Kings' mark and position in the standings, it's tough to say whether they are a seller or a buyer. If anything is clear, it's that they shouldn't pursue one direction with any sort of aggression.
To be sure, the Kings have the future assets to dish out, including three first-round picks and four second-rounders over the next three seasons, as well as several notable prospects.
However, there is no guarantee Los Angeles will emerge from the ruins of the playoff race and set themselves as a distinct playoff team. It wouldn't make sense to risk the franchise's future for rental in a struggling season.
Therefore, they may just need to take the status of conservative buyers. Some light additions won't turn them into Stanley Cup favorites, but may be the necessary path for Holland to push the team to the playoffs at least.
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