Kings Have Specific Target at Trade Deadline

The Los Angeles Kings have labeled their biggest need ahead of the trade deadline.

Mar 1, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Los Angeles Kings left wing Kevin Fiala (22) is congratulated by teammates after scoring against the St. Louis Blues during the first period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images / Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Kings have been knocked out of the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the opening round in each of the last three years at the hands of the Edmonton Oilers. Possibly on track to meet again in the first round for the fourth straight year, the Kings enter trade deadline week looking to finally get the upper hand on their division rival.

According to Elliotte Friedman in the 32 Thoughts Podcast, the Kings are looking to add offense before the trade deadline. Friedman isn’t exactly clear on how big of a swing the Kings are taking, but a fresh forward is their focus.

“They’re definitely looking for a scorer,” Friedman said. “I get different debates on how big they’re thinking here… I do think they’re going to try to get the best scorer they can find.”

The Kings have been a solid team this season, but an area that could use improvement is on offense. Adrian Kempe leads the team in scoring with 50 points (26G-25A) in 59 games and no players are at a point-per-game pace.

With a 31-20-8 record and riding a four-game winless streak, it makes sense that the Kings’ top priority is finding someone who can put pucks in the net.

The Fourth Period links the Kings to six different forwards on their 40-player trade board, with Mikko Rantanen and Brock Boeser sticking out as the top goal scorers. Depth centers like Scott Laughton and Jake Evans were also linked to the Kings.

If goal scoring is the name of the game for the Kings at this deadline, faces like Jared McCann, Rickard Rakell, and Dylan Cozens should also be floating on their radar.

The Kings don’t have a ton of assets to throw around, but enough that they should be able to pull off something big for their push to the postseason.

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