The slumping Kings headed into Friday’s NHL trade deadline needing a significant move to jumpstart their postseason push and improve their chances of advancing past the first round of the playoffs for the first time since the Stanley Cup spring of 2014.
What they got instead may prove to be little more than a minor upgrade, acquiring Russian forward Andrei Kuzmenko and a seventh-round pick in this summer’s draft from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for a third-round pick in 2027.
Kuzmenko, 29, had 39 goals and 35 assists for Vancouver in his first NHL season in 2022-23 and 26 of his 67 career goals have come on the power play, where the Kings have struggled. But this season, which he split between Calgary and Philadelphia, he has just six goals and 14 assists.
Still, the addition of a right-handed shot and Kuzmenko’s physical presence in the crease could wake the flagging Kings’ offense. Plus the Flyers are responsible for half of what remains on his $5.5 million contract, which expires this season. So it’s a trade that carries little risk. It could provide only minimal reward as well, however, and that may turn up on the heat on embattled general manager Rob Blake, who is in the final months of his contract.
Since replacing Dean Lombardi, who guided the Kings to a pair of Stanley Cup titles, Blake has taken the team to four playoffs appearances in seven full seasons. But the Kings have been eliminated in the first round each time. He probably needs a deep run in the playoffs this spring to keep his job.
The Kings, riding a season-long five-game losing streak, entered Saturday’s game with St. Louis third in the Pacific Division, with a three-point lead over Calgary in the battle for third and final guaranteed playoff berth. They are also are 26th in the 32-team league in scoring and third from last in the power play efficiency.
To correct that they were believed to be seeking a dynamic top-six forward at the deadline, with published reports linking them to the Islanders’ Kyle Palmieri and Pittsburgh’s Rickard Rakell. They got neither but they also retained talented twentysomethings Quinton Byfield, Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke, whose names had all surfaced in trade rumors.
The Ducks, seven points out of their first playoff berth since 2018, were not active at the deadline but they made a move early Friday by acquiring defenseman Oliver Kylington from the Islanders in exchange for future considers. A day earlier, the team added right wing Herm Traff and a conditional second-round pick in this summer’s draft from the New Jersey Devils in exchange for defenseman Brian Dumoulin.