Teams 'Lurking In The Weeds' As Kempe Contract Talks On Pause

Adrian Kempe, LA Kings forward, plays the puck during game action

Pending unrestricted free agent Adrian Kempe is off to a sensational start to the NHL season, as if to put an emphatic stamp on extension talks with the Los Angeles Kings. The price, it seems, keeps going up, so much so that the two sides have hit the pause button for now.

The latest report from insider David Pagnotta, speaking on the Oilersnation Everyday podcast, said the $9M or $10M AAV numbers the two sides were haggling over this summer have gone up (thanks largely to the Kirill Kaprizov record-breaking contract). Now, the Kings better be prepared to budget for a cap hit north of $11 million, or rival teams will be ready to pounce.

I don't know if L.A. has made up any significant ground in terms of bridging the financial gap. And that's one of the reasons they put a pause in the negotiations for the time being... With the changing of the landscape, they've got to figure that out from the L.A. side of things, and understand that it's gonna cost you a lot to keep this guy.
There are teams like Edmonton and others that are quasi-lurking in the weeds just curious as to where this is gonna go... There are gonna be a number of potential suitors that are gonna go after this guy...
The Kings and (GM) Kenny Holland have to accept the fact that his contract's likely gonna be in the 11s.

Just for context as to how the market has changed, AFP Analytics put out their projected extension numbers for this year's pending UFAs at the beginning of the offseason, and they had Kempe down for a seven-year deal with a $9.175 million AAV. That's ancient history now. Kaprizov's $17M breakthrough with the Minnesota Wild last month saw to that.

This is Kempe's 10th season with the Kings, and he will clearly be the face of the franchise moving forward, as Anze Kopitar is in his final season.

Kempe rang up 35 goals and 73 points last season in 81 games, his third year in the last four reaching the 35-goal mark.

The Kings are off to a 1-2-1 start in four games this season.