Once viewed as a long-term top-six piece, Alex Turcotte has struggled to establish himself in Los Angeles, making him a potential trade candidate as the Kings weigh roster direction and organizational fit.
The Los Angeles Kings are still searching for reliable offensive production, and Alex Turcotte has not emerged as part of that solution.
A former fifth-overall pick in 2019, Turcotte has spent his time in the organization battling injuries and trying to carve out a permanent NHL role. While he has managed to provide responsible, detail-oriented play in a bottom-six capacity, his offensive output has remained limited, and he has yet to translate his junior pedigree into consistent scoring at the NHL level.
If you're the Kings, this can't be said enough, but they probably should have started rebuilding a long time ago. Now because they decided to push the can down the road a little while longer, you either have to make a big trade at some point this offseason, or a mixed bag. You could move Turcotte to a team like the Chicago Blackhawks, who've ran into significant issues trying to rebuild that team and now they just overpaid for a top-six defenseman in Bowen Byram. Chicago might be interested in a Turcotte sort of player who can serve a role on that team. Nothing pretty. Turcotte is coming off a down year with three goals and 11 assists for 14 points in 62 games, which is disappointing given the hype that surrounded him from the very beginning.
At least if you're Los Angeles, if you can manage to flip Turcotte for a mid-round pick in the NHL Draft within the year or two or maybe even this draft, at least you get something in return. Turcotte is in the final year of a three-year, $2.325 million deal. It's not a terribly massive contract, but he's been such a disappointment, even spending $850,000 is considered too much, and that's pretty crazy to say for a former first-round pick. That's what the Kings are set to pay him this year. The cap hit for the first two years of the deal was $775,000.
Maybe the lights are a little too bright in a market like Los Angeles. Chicago is kind of a big market as well, but given the team isn't exactly in the limelight, perhaps a change of scenery is what Turcotte needs because this hasn't been a good fit from the onset.
