"The 2025 NHL offseason was a great opportunity for new general manager Ken Holland and the LA Kings to make some serious upgrades and ultimately get younger, but a summer of puzzling free agency moves and trades suggests the Kings may have taken a step back rather than progress and improve. Re-signing the likes of Andrei Kuzmenko and Alex Laferriere to solid deals was exactly the right moves they needed to make during the summer,"
"As some of their key pieces to their success last season were pending free agents, letting both Tanner Jeannot and Vladislav Gavrikov leave probably wasn't the smartest move given how important they both were in their individual roles last season, and given the following free agency moves they went on to make, letting these two go has still left a pretty big hole in the team."
The 2025 NHL offseason gave new general manager Ken Holland and the LA Kings an opportunity to upgrade the roster and get younger. Re-signing Andrei Kuzmenko and Alex Laferriere retained important contributors. Letting Tanner Jeannot and Vladislav Gavrikov depart removed key role players and left a significant hole on defense. Signing veteran defensemen Brian Dumoulin (34) and Cody Ceci (31) to multi-year deals brought older, less productive options. Trading 24-year-old Jordan Spence for modest draft capital removed a promising young defenseman and reduced future defensive depth.
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