Kings Should Keep Close Eye On 2 Maple Leafs Goalies In Free Agency

The Los Angeles Kings are once again going to have to pivot in net as Cam Talbot, David Rittich, and Pheonix Copley are all UFAs and there hasn't been any indication that any of them are going to be back next season.

This means the Kings are going to have to make a decision - either trade for a goalie and use assets (the team doesn't have a ton) or sign a goalie or two in free agency. The goalie market via trade might be a good option, but it will cost them and the Kings didn't bother upgrading in net this season at the trade deadline only to be dominated by the Edmonton Oilers again.

While it seemed like a good move to let Joonas Korpisalo walk last offseason in hindsight seeing as he had a very tough year and Talbot did well for the majority of the season, he is older and faltered in the second half of the season, including playoffs. The Kings need a longer term option.

There are two UFA goalies in Toronto that very well may hit free agency this summer. While Ilya Samsonov proved he can be a good starter in the NHL (minus his blip in the season), Martin Jones has more than proven he can serve as a reliable backup who can also take over starts and give the starter relief if needed at any point in the season. He's done so for two years in a row (one with the Maple Leafs and the season prior with the Seattle Kraken).

Even if the Kings think that Erik Portillo is ready to be the backup, the team needs a starter for him to play behind right now and another option in net in case Portillo doesn't work out just yet. With Joseph Woll in net for Toronto, Samsonov will likely move on and there aren't many good options to start in LA outside of Samsonov on the UFA market. This seems like a likely scenario to play out in the coming months.