As first reported by LA Kings Insider Jon Rosen, the Kings have brought back Marian Gaborik by agreeing to terms on a 7 year contract renewal. The cap hit is reportedly at $4.9 $4.875M per year.
The length of the contract came as a shock initially, especially in light of previous reports that the Kings were offering a 3 year contract. Obviously, term was a bigger deal for Gaborik and the King were able to keep him in exchange for a lower cap hit.
Over the short term LA is getting one hell of a deal, Gaborik will likely provide insane value over the next few years at a $4.875M cap hit. It looks like the Kings are going all in for another cup (or two) and will have to deal with a bevy of tough contracts once their window closes.
Gaborik is a rare player in that he is able to maintain a high shooting percentage over a large sample of games. But the big question is, how will he age? He’s player that is heavily reliant on his skating ability and he does have a history of injuries which makes the contract troubling over the long term. Luckily, if he can’t finish out the length of his contract, then the Kings won’t face a penalty under the new CBA. Also, given that the cap will continue going up, his contract will likely be very tradeable (there is no no-trade clause) should LA need to get out from under it in the future.
Here is how the Kings cap situation looks as of now:
LA has three open roster spots that they will likely use on RFAs Dwight Kings, Linden Vey and Brayden McNabb. After bringing in those three they’ll still have $2-3M in cap space to play around with should they want to make any other moves.