Offseason Roundup: Los Angeles Kings
Over the next month, theScore's NHL editors will review all the offseason moves for each team around the league.
The Los Angeles Kings spent most of their offseason basking in the afterglow of their second Stanley Cup championship in three seasons.
The Kings can't really be faulted for their relatively quiet offseason. After all, why mess with a formula that has led the franchise to an unprecedented level of success?
If anything, Los Angeles's goal for the offseason was re-signing the core of its Stanley Cup championship roster while remaining underneath the salary cap, which general manager Dean Lombardi very nearly nearly managed to do.
Offseason Overview
The biggest move the Kings made in the offseason was an internal one: keeping their key trade-deadline acquisition Marian Gaborik around for the foreseeable future.
Gaborik was an instant fit with Los Angeles, recording 16 points in 19 games and adding a team-high 14 goals during the Cup run. In Gaborik, the Kings appear to have found the ideal linemate for Anze Kopitar, so they wisely opted to re-sign Gaborik for seven more years.
Gaborik's cap hit is less than $5 million thanks to the front-loaded structure of the deal, which keeps him under contract until he is 39. Los Angeles also re-signed defenseman Matt Greene to a four-year deal with a $2.5 million cap hit and extended Dwight King for three more seasons at $1.95 million per year.
These signings left the Kings with less than $1 million in cap space, which left sturdy veteran defenseman Willie Mitchell without a contract or a place on the club. Mitchell earned $3.5 million in his final season with Los Angeles but the veteran's role on the team was steadily diminishing, which is probably why he was deemed expendable.
But really, Los Angeles spent the majority of its offseason hanging out with the Stanley Cup. The Kings took the Cup everywhere, from Las Vegas to the coast of Sweden and a music festival in Slovakia. Players went golfing and fly-fishing with it and ate everything from burgers to fruit loops out of the bowl, which held its share of beverages as well. The Kings even took it to some other local sporting events, including a major league baseball game and a college football contest.
Key Additions
F Adam Cracknell
F David van der Gulik
Key Departures
D Willie Mitchell
F Linden Vey
2014-15 Outlook
The Kings had a quiet offseason largely because they didn't need to make major improvements to a roster that won the Stanley Cup. Their biggest obstacle heading into the season - aside from the teams they share a state with - is the every looming specter of injuries, which players like Gaborik and goaltender Jonathan Quick have struggled with at times in their careers.
If the Kings remains healthy, they should challenge for the Pacific Division title and be a threat for a deep playoff run once again. The only thing more difficult than winning the Cup is defending the title.