Kings Looking For Center Help Outside Of Rangers' Trocheck

Whether the Los Angeles Kings acquired Artemi Panarin or not, they are still searching for center help as they try to keep their window open. Anze Kopitar is retiring after the season and Philipp Danault fell off, so the Kings traded him. All they have as top-6 center options moving forward is Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferierre.

David Pagnotta said the Kings are "going to look at the dot. They're going to...see if they can bring somebody in up the middle to give them a nice 1, 2, 3 punch. They asked about Vincent Trocheck, but he didn't want to go out West, anywhere."

Trocheck would have been a strong piece to bring in, especially with the familiarity with Panarin. It would be costly as well though considering he has three years left at $5.625 million AAV. But the Kings have to look elsewhere, and there are options, all likely costly as well though.

Nazem Kadri has been linked to the Kings. He has the same term left as Trocheck, but at the price of $7 million AAV. He remains a top-6 center that has 10 goals and 39 points on the season. Nobody has an easy time scoring on the Calgary Flames this season, so his numbers would be projected to rise on another team, especially with much better wingers that the Kings have. Kadri's term would fit in very well with Panarin and a number of the other players in their window to win.

The Vancouver Canucks are selling, but it remains to be seen just how far that stretches. Quinn Hughes had another year left on his deal, but Elias Pettersson, the player the Kings would be interested in to fill the center hole, has six years left at $11.6 million AAV. They could afford it when Kopitar retires and he's strong defensively, so he would fit well into the system. It's a matter of if the Canucks want to try to climb up the standings starting next season or dive deeper into the rebuild.

One name we haven't heard much of is William Karlsson. He isn't really a part of the Vegas Golden Knights' plans right now as he's been injured for all but 14 games this season. The Golden Knights are also playing Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, and Thomas Hertl down the middle and could use the cap space, so there's a need to move Karlsson before he returns. He has another year left on his deal at $5.9 million AAV, is strong defensively and stays out of the penalty box, and could still score as he put up 30 goals and 60 points in 70 games two seasons ago.

There aren't many options, but the Kings are desperate and may be willing to push and pay a little extra to solidify themselves for a couple of runs with a move before the trade deadline.