In his first eight months on the job, General Manager Ken Holland has taken more aggressive actions than Rob Blake did as General Manager. The Kings needed a scoring winger given their problems as a counterpunching team. Hopefully Panarin can provide the offense the Kings need to reach the playoffs.
But now that the need for scoring wingers has been filled, the next task for Kings GM Ken Holland is to acquire a center. If Dennis Bernstein of the fourth period told Sirius XM NHL Network Radio, when asked what the next pressing need is for this club.
NHLRumors.com Transcripts
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Dennis Bernstein: “It (the Panarin extension) doesn’t put any pressure on them (the Kings) this season, so Kenny Holland can do his job, and there is work to be done. Make no mistake. It doesn’t stamp them as a Stanley Cup contender today. They do have to make moves where they need to be, logically in the middle.”
Anze Kopitar will retire next season. Byfield’s has had a challenging season. You really don’t have 2C behind this team. So what would you, what would that mean from a trading aspect? Even though they lost (Liam), Greentree might be able to make things more difficult. Robert Thomas a 2C behind, or maybe even a 1C, and look where Byfield is? Or are you going to take a step? They do have some room in the cap. Are you going for a Vincent Trocheck, which would also fit in perfectly?
So the work that Kenny Holland has to do must be in the middle. Now they have a break, no break here, but the boy on the fourth line, Sami Helenius, the big 6-foot Finn. He started to develop into a quality 4C. He really is and he scored a few goals. He’s not afraid to shoot. He is big and needs to be a bit more physical.
The key is Alex Turcotte. He really hasn’t developed like they thought he would, so that puts the onus on them to move to center so they can do it during the season. But I think the work will probably take place out of season. But they must strengthen their middle position if they want to reach the level of a real competitor in the West?”
In addition to Vincent Trocheck, who may not want to go to the West Coast and, from the sounds of it, doesn’t want to, the Kings could look at Robert Thomas of the St. Louis Blues, Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks, Shane Wright of the Seattle Kraken, if they want to go the trade route. Can they sign Nick Schmaltz in free agency and take another step? That’s another possibility.
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But the Kings of Los Angeles need a center now that the scoring winger slot is filled.
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