The Los Angeles Kings move off another winger, trading Corey Perry to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2028 second-round pick. Is Kings GM pooling these draft picks for a bigger move, or is he settling to bring in prospects?
After trading away Warren Foegele to the Ottawa Senators, the Los Angeles Kings' GM sells off another forward. This time it's right winger Corey Perry who's been traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a second-round pick, according to reports from Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman and TSN's Chris Johnston.
TSN's Pierre LeBrun detailed that the second-round pick is for the 2028 draft.
Perry had to waive his no-trade clause to accept this deal with Tampa Bay. The Kings are retaining 50 percent of Perry's $2-million salary cap hit, and he is a pending UFA.
On Los Angeles' side, the team gets another second-round pick after receiving one from the Senators in the Foegele trade on Thursday. From that move, the Kings already have three second-round picks in the 2026 draft.
Now, with this pick in return for Perry, the Kings have six second-rounders in the next three drafts. Not to mention, they have all three of their first-rounders for each upcoming draft.
Holland is either loading up to bring in some prospects at the draft, or he's pooling those picks to cash in on a move that can help his team in a playoff push. However, that ammo can also be used at the draft in an off-season move.
At any rate, Los Angeles now has over $17 million in current salary cap space.
Even though reports came out about Perry asking to stay in Los Angeles and looking for a contract extension, it seems that the player was open to reuniting with some old friends.
The 40-year-old veteran played two seasons for the Lightning in 2021-22 and 2022-23, missing the team's Stanley Cup windows. However, including once with the Bolts, Perry has visited the Stanley Cup final in five of the last six years. With this move to Tampa, that number could very well grow as the Lightning lead the Atlantic Division.
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