The Los Angeles Kings tend to get deals done when arbitration is looming. This year, the Kings only had to deal with one restricted free agent approaching arbitration. And as threatening as Dwight King is, you just knew LA was going to try to avoid battling him over terms. This morning, it was confirmed by Elliotte Friedman:
LA and Dwight King also settled beforehand, on a three-year deal.
— Elliotte Friedman (@FriedgeHNIC) July 30, 2014
A few hours later, Jon Rosen brought us the financial terms:
AAV of King’s new contract is 1.95M.
— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) July 30, 2014
LA was at a bit of a crossroads with King. A one-year deal, or a trip to arbitration, would have signaled an eventual desire to move on from King and look for other bottom six options. A three-year deal? That’s entirely different. The only players signed longer are the so-called “core” players (Brown, Richards, Carter, Gaborik, Doughty, Voynov, Quick), plus Matt Greene. It’s clear that LA believes in King as a third-line left wing, and even if he doesn’t score 15 goals next season (hint: he probably won’t), he fits the Kings’ style perfectly and is a benefit to the team’s possession abilities.
King’s value is higher than it has ever been right now, so a raise was inevitable. LA managed to avoid going above the salary cap by giving King the stability of a three-year deal, which will take him to Unrestricted Free Agent status That’s big; regardless of which borderline players the Kings keep and which ones the Kings send to Manchester, LA will be a couple hundred thousand dollars clear. Via Cap Geek, here’s a potential look:
CAPGEEK.COM ARMCHAIR GM ROSTER
Possible Opening Night 23-Man Roster
FORWARDS
Marian Gaborik ($4.875m) / Anze Kopitar ($6.800m) / Dustin Brown ($5.875m)
Tanner Pearson ($0.736m) / Jeff Carter ($5.273m) / Tyler Toffoli ($0.717m)
Dwight King ($1.950m) / Jarret Stoll ($3.250m) / Justin Williams ($3.650m)
Kyle Clifford ($1.075m) / Mike Richards ($5.750m) / Trevor Lewis ($1.525m)
Jordan Nolan ($0.700m)
DEFENSEMEN
Drew Doughty ($7.000m) / Slava Voynov ($4.167m)
Robyn Regehr ($3.000m) / Matt Greene ($2.500m)
Alec Martinez ($1.100m) / Jake Muzzin ($1.000m)
Jeff Schultz ($0.850m) / Brayden McNabb ($0.650m)
GOALTENDERS
Jonathan Quick ($5.800m)
Martin Jones ($0.550m)
BONUS OVERAGE
$50,000
——
CAPGEEK.COM TOTALS (follow @capgeek on Twitter)
(estimations for 2014-15)
SALARY CAP: $69,000,000; CAP PAYROLL: $68,841,894; BONUSES: $342,500
CAP SPACE (23-man roster): $158,106
What do you think of the new deal? Let’s argue about it in the comments!
What do you think of Dwight King’s new three-year, $5.85 million contract?
| hate it | 2 |
| don’t like it | 22 |
| like it | 126 |
| love it | 37 |