SAN DIEGO, CA — The Anze Kopitar era is over, and that is a reality that hasn’t fully settled for the Los Angeles Kings as major holes remain unchanged in the informal stasis of the NHL offseason. The team enters the offseason with two compounding, fundamental problems and one primary lever to address them.

The first problem is at center. Quinton Byfield anchors the top of the depth chart, but the uncertainty around the potential departure of Scott Laughton leaves a real void below him. What sits behind Byfield is remarkably thin: Alex Turcotte and Samuel Helenius represent the next tier, and neither projects as a legitimate top-six center at this level. The second problem is structural and familiar to any person who has watched a single period of LA Kings hockey. The blue line has been the team's Achilles' heel, and nothing in the current construction resolves it on its own.

The team is in a ‘win-now’ mode despite its own market trend being rather bearish. They need assets to move that they don't have, and the ones that remain only get them to the table, but without the ability to take the next step. The lever that gets them to the table is the 17th overall pick, and it is almost certainly in play.

Why the Pick Matters

The Kings have not developed a first-round pick inside their own system since Brandt Clarke, as four consecutive drafts tell the story.

In 2022, the 19th overall pick went to Minnesota as part of the Kevin Fiala acquisition and became Liam Ohgren. In 2023, a conditional first tied to the Jonathan Quick trade to Columbus was transferred to Philadelphia (conditional if the Kings made the playoffs); Philadelphia used it to select Oliver Bonk. In 2024, the Kings traded down from 21st to 26th with Montreal, selected Liam Greentree, and then moved him to the Rangers last season for Artemi Panarin. In 2025, they nearly traded out of the first round entirely, moving the 24th overall pick for the 31st and 59th selections. Henry Brzustewicz, a defenseman, went 31st.

The Kings have not kept a first-round pick and developed him through the system since Clarke, with Brzustewicz being a question mark, unable to contribute for at least two seasons, or being potential bait alongside the 17th overall pick. That context is what gives the 17th so much weight this summer. It is not just a draft asset; it really is the main negotiating chip in a market where significant players are moving.

The Market Requires It

Tkachuks united in Florida. Jordan Kyrou to Washington for a haul. Bowen Byram and Jordan Greenway for an absurd price. Jason Robertson Rumors. Simon Nemec to Calgary. Big and unexpected names out of Columbus are making noise. Alex Tuch to test free agency. Dylan Larkin, the one who kicked it off with a request out of Detroit, though recent reporting places Dallas as the most likely destination. 

Even opening a conversation on a player like Larkin would require something substantial. Elias Pettersson is theoretically available from Vancouver, though the cost and risk associated with that conversation are considerable. The more realistic scenario may be Vincent Trocheck out of New York, despite the likely overpay. There is curbside appeal to slotting him into a Peter Laviolette offense alongside former teammate Panarin, with Byfield getting a comparable 2C to solidify the top six, giving the Kings an actual center core to build around.

Every realistic target in this market has one thing in common: the 17th overall pick has to be in the opening offer. Though it does not close a deal, without it, the Kings are not at the table.

The question is what else goes in alongside it. The pipeline is not deep, as the team has already made one massive, franchise-defining swing in the last three seasons that has nearly capsized the organization. Brzustewicz does carry weight and is a coveted piece for teams that value defensive prospect depth. Carter George and Hampton Slukynsky represent the rare areas of organizational promise left standing. Packaging either alongside the 17th starts to approach the kind of offer that moves a deal forward, but it also further strips the system from an organization that has already spent heavily without proper ROI.

The Window Problem

The Kings have spent five years in a competitive window without ever climbing through it. The 2024-25 season was the best regular season of the era at 105 points. They took a 2-0 series lead against Edmonton and still could not close it out. The result following that season was a 15-point drop in the standings, a fall to wild-card status, a four-game exit, and the Kopitar era ending on top of it.

None of that is the behavior of a team that should double, or rather, triple down. And yet Holland and Laviolette are signaling exactly that. Laviolette runs an offensive system built on pace, and the roster, as currently constructed, is mismatched with those demands, particularly on the back end—which will become a scoffable laugh if left unchanged. That gap has to be closed through acquisition, which brings the conversation back to the same place every time.

The Verdict

The Kings hold two second-round picks, their own and one from Columbus, and the front office, through Mark Yannetti, has shown genuine ability to find value in later rounds. That provides some flexibility on the margins.

There is also the perspective that a 17th overall pick doesn't help the roster now in the form of the player himself. There isn't a player in that draft, say but a few names at the very top, that are also longshots to step in and be impact players, that could advance this franchise to the next stage.

A freshly drafted player is not a solution to the holes this roster carries. The Kings are branding themselves as contenders, despite clear-cut deficiencies with ‘the plan.’ With the drumbeat to contention beating on, despite their drumstick thinning out. 

The 17th overall pick being weaponized sets the table for one of the two moves they so desperately need. It is almost certainly being moved, given the overall circumstances regarding the franchise's state and management's directional focus.