Kings Trade Dubois for Kuemper and clear cap space, what's next?
Yesterday, the Los Angeles Kings completed a big trade with the Washington Capitals when they moved Pierre-Luc Dubois to the Capitals for goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
Acquiring Kuemper gives the Kings $3.25 million in cap space to use elsewhere to address other needs.
Trading away Dubois not only gets rid of a mistake made by GM Rob Blake but also a distraction if he had started the season with the team and struggled.
Now that he has been traded and they used him to bring in a starting goalie, the Kings can now focus on acquiring a bit more forward depth to help the club get past that first-round hump.
This off-season, the Kings will need to re-sign some of their RFAs, the biggest being Quintin Byfield. Who will easily replace what Dubois was supposed to be for their team after Anze Kopitar retires.
There is also Carl Grundstrom; he is a good bottom-six player option for the club. There will likely be mutual interest in returning him to the team next season.
Blake Lizotte is another one that the Kings could re-sign, but if they can replace him with another free agent on July 1, he could be unqualified and let walk to free agency.
The last forward is the Kings' next biggest trade chip, Arthur Kaliyev. Who has formally requested a trade and will be moved this off-season. The Kings could trade him and acquire another forward to help their team with the available cap space.
Jordan Spence is the last of the RFAs that the team will need to re-sign on the blue line. He will be an everyday member of the team's back end next season.
Going forward, the Kings will need to use the remaining cap space after signing these RFAs and allocate it between their blue line and forward group. Now that they have Kuemper and Rittich locked up, they have a good goalie tandem that can win them games.
Their main focus will be finding intact players at a low cost this off-season.