We’ve reached the point now where it’s less about LA’s interest in the player, but rather how expendable he is. On June 28, 2015, Mike Richards’ placement on waivers At 32 years old, forward (P.A.) is now a valuable asset to be traded rather than kept on a rebuilding Toronto Maple Leafs squad. This is mostly due to Lou Lamoriello collecting draft picks like candy in a very “all the picks are belong to me” manner.
The 6’0 French-Canadian winger has never eclipsed 20 goals in his career, but does have 15 goals in 58 games played this season, so he *could* finally pass the 20-goal mark if all goes well for him. In terms of relative possession, he’s a middling 10th on his own team, but he is above the 50% CF mark, so that surely counts for something. And he’s not negative compared to his teammates! As shown below, if the question is whether he can fit in a top-six role, his results over the last three seasons point to yes.
Perhaps most enticing about the Quebec native is his $1.5 million cap hit. Offensively, he’d probably be a minor upgrade over, say, Dustin Brown, and could potentially be used as a top-six stopgap until Marian Gaborik returns from his lower body injury. Most of all, it’s likely that he could be had for a lower round pick from Toronto and wouldn’t cost LA the farm as all of the other forwards we’ve covered so far would. They’ve already got 12 draft picks this year, so maybe they won’t care where that 13th pick falls.
Overall, Parenteau’s 30 points (20 of which have come at 5v5) and 1.6 points per 60 make him an attractive alternative to pricier players and could be just what the Los Angeles Kings are looking for to help boost their scoring depth.