Yet hope springs eternal, and with a deeper forward group and a reconfigured defense, the Kings will take the ice for these six must-see contests.

Oct. 7: vs. Colorado Avalanche

As part of a nationally televised tripleheader, the Kings will help ignite the 2025-26 campaign as they host the Avs. Nathan MacKinnon, Cale Makar and a healthy Gabriel Landeskog will try to crash the party, while Kings fans will get their first look at heel-turned-face Corey Perry in a black-and-silver sweater. The Avs’ lightning-paced attack will be a great first test for the Kings’ new-look defense – outgoing were Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence, incoming were Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin – since Colorado has captured 14 of the past 18 meetings with the Kings.

Nov. 28: at Ducks

With the Ducks edging toward .500 last season and making some notable upgrades over the summer, the Freeway Faceoff could be back. The first of four installments will unfold at Honda Center, where Perry plied his trade for 14 campaigns, including winning the Hart Trophy in 2011 and being an enormous thorn in the Kings’ side seemingly every year. Dumoulin was a Duck for most of 2024-25, though he finished the year with a playoff team, the New Jersey Devils.

Dec. 2: vs. Washington Capitals

While Matt Roy and Pierre-Luc Dubois have already both returned to Los Angeles once, the absence of Roy will still be felt and the aftershocks from the miserably failed Dubois acquisition still reverberate through each level of the Kings organization. The Capitals catapulted to the top spot in the Eastern Conference standings last season, the same campaign in which captain Alex Ovechkin broke Wayne Gretzky’s hallowed mark for career NHL goals.

Jan. 20: vs. New York Rangers

Though Jonathan Quick didn’t start either matchup with the Kings last season, he’ll be back with the Rangers again and this time he’ll be joined by another former King. At the 2025 trade deadline, then-GM Rob Blake said Gavrikov would soon be signing a long-term contract. Four months later, he did – with the Rangers. The Kings committed the same $8.5 million he and Spence will make this season to Dumoulin and Ceci, moves that The Athletic’s Dom Luszczyszyn described as “subtraction by addition” in an analysis that placed the Kings as having the biggest drop in roster quality year-over-year.

Feb. 6-24: Winter Olympics in Milan

After a 12-year absence, the NHL is back at the Olympics and its contingent is sure to include some Kings. Adrian Kempe (Sweden) and Drew Doughty (Canada) represented their countries at last year’s 4 Nations Face-Off. Kempe is a lock to return to the Tre Kronor and Doughty has long been known to elevate his game when sporting a maple leaf on his chest. With the field expanding from four teams to 12, Kevin Fiala (Switzerland) will undoubtedly head to Italy as well.

April 11: vs. Edmonton Oilers

The Kings and rival Edmonton will square off only three times this season, with two clashes at Crypto.com Arena. In Game 79 of the Kings’ season, they’ll measure up against Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the squad that’s sent them fishing in each of the past four postseasons. Given that Vegas reeled in the offseason’s biggest fish, Mitch Marner, and might not be done, it’s far from inconceivable that the Kings and Oilers would meet in a fifth consecutive first-round series, with this matchup setting the scene and maybe even influencing the venue.

KINGS 2025-26 SCHEDULE

Oct. 7 vs. Colorado, 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 8 at Vegas, 7 p.m.

Oct. 11 at Winnipeg, 10:30 a.m.

Oct. 13 at Minnesota, 5 p.m.

Oct. 16 vs. Pittsburgh, 7 p.m.

Oct. 18 vs. Carolina, 6 p.m.

Oct. 21 at St. Louis, 5 p.m.

Oct. 23 at Dallas, 5 p.m.

Oct. 25 at Nashville, 5 p.m.

Oct. 26 at Chicago, 4 p.m.

Oct. 28 at San Jose, 8 p.m.

Oct. 30 vs. Detroit, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 1 vs. New Jersey, 6 p.m.

Nov. 4 vs. Winnipeg, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 6 vs. Florida, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 9 at Pittsburgh, 11 a.m.

Nov. 11 at Montreal, 4 p.m.

Nov. 13 at Toronto, 4 p.m.

Nov. 15 at Ottawa, 4 p.m.

Nov. 17 at Washington, 4 p.m.

Nov 20 at San Jose, 7 p.m.

Nov. 21 vs. Boston, 7:30 p.m.

Nov. 24 vs. Ottawa, 6 p.m.

Nov. 28 at Ducks, 1 p.m.

Nov. 29 vs. Vancouver, 7 p.m.

Dec. 2 vs. Washington, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 4 vs. Chicago, 7:30 p.m.

Dec. 6 vs. Chicago, 6 p.m.

Dec. 8 at Utah, 6 p.m.

Dec. 10 at Seattle, 7 p.m.

Dec. 13 vs. Calgary, 7 p.m.

Dec. 15 at Dallas, 5 p.m.

Dec. 17 at Florida, 4 p.m.

Dec. 18 at Tampa Bay, 4 p.m.

Dec 22 vs. Columbus, 7 p.m.

Dec. 23 vs. Seattle, 7 p.m.

Dec. 27 vs. Ducks, 6 p.m.

Dec 29 at Colorado, 6 p.m.

Jan. 1 vs. Tampa Bay, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 3 vs. Minnesota, 6 p.m.

Jan. 5 vs. Minnesota, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 7 vs. San Jose, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 9 at Winnipeg, 5 p.m.

Jan. 10 at Edmonton, 7 p.m.

Jan 12 vs. Dallas, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 14 vs. Vegas, 7 p.m.

Jan. 16 vs. Ducks, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 17 at Ducks, 7 p.m.

Jan. 20 vs. New York Rangers, 7:30 p.m.

Jan. 24 at St. Louis, 5 p.m.

Jan 26 at Columbus, 4 p.m.

Jan. 27 at Detroit, 4 p.m.

Jan. 29 at Buffalo, 4 p.m.

Jan. 31 at Philadelphia, 9:30 a.m.

Feb. 1 at Carolina, noon

Feb. 4 vs. Seattle, 7 p.m.

Feb. 5 at Vegas, 7 p.m.

Feb. 25 vs. Vegas, 7 p.m.

Feb. 26 vs. Edmonton, 7:30 p.m.

Feb. 28 vs. Calgary, 4 p.m.

March 2 vs. Colorado, 7:30 p.m.

March 5 vs. New York Islanders, 6:30 p.m.

March 7 vs. Montreal, 4 p.m.

March 10 at Boston, 4 p.m.

March 13 at New York Islanders, 4 p.m.

March 14 at New Jersey, 4 p.m.

March 16 at New York Rangers, 4 p.m.

March 19 vs. Philadelphia, 7:30 p.m.

March 21 vs. Buffalo, 1 p.m.

March 22 at Utah, 6 p.m.

March 24 at Calgary, 6 p.m.

March 26 at Vancouver, 7 p.m.

March 28 vs. Utah, 6 p.m.

April 1 vs. St. Louis, 6 p.m.

April 2 vs. Nashville, 7:30 p.m.

April 4 vs. Toronto, 4 p.m.

April 6 vs. Nashville, 7:30 p.m.

April 9 vs. Vancouver, 7:30 p.m.

April 11 vs. Edmonton, 1 p.m.

April 13 at Seattle, 7 p.m.

April 14 at Vancouver, 7 p.m.

April 16 at Calgary, 6 p.m.

Lord, 40, had been around El Segundo and the Inland Empire a bit for various camps when he guided the Kings’ ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, from 2020-24. Now, he’s back to run the much more directly connected AHL club, the Ontario Reign.

“I’m really aligned with the organization [in terms of] culture, structure, details and competitive nature. I feel like my coaching style really blends with that. I’m super excited,” Lord said.

Earlier this offseason, new GM Ken Holland alluded to a potential hire falling through, though Lord declined to comment on the hiring process on Tuesday.

Holland was among those Lord thanked for the opportunity to replace Marco Sturm, who was hired as the head coach of the Boston Bruins this offseason. Lord said the “language, systems, structure and identity” of the Reign would mirror those of the Kings, and that “whatever they need from us, we’re gonna do.”

“It’s going to be seamless, it has to be, right? If we’re expecting guys to be able to get called up today or tomorrow to go and play in a National Hockey League game, they’ve got to be playing the same system,” Lord said.

Lord, a Canadian who began his coaching career as a player-coach for a Welsh pro club, the Cardiff Devils, returned to North America with Greenville and then spent last year guiding the QMJHL’s Halifax Mooseheads at the junior level.

Halifax purged many of its older players, leaving Lord with five 16-year-old players and what he said was “one of the youngest teams in league history.” That experience, Lord said, better prepared him to seek the delicate balance between player development and team competitiveness.

“It is the ultimate juggling act, between development and winning,” Lord said. “I really believe winning is developing in a lot of ways, starting with developing a competitive nature, clawing yourself out of tough situations, going on the road and having a big win.”

Assistants Brad Schuler, Christ Hajt (defensemen) and Adam Brown (goaltending) will all carry over from Sturm’s staff to Lord’s.

Most analysts assessed them as becoming slower, older and, likely, worse.

They were roundly panned from legacy outlets to new media (for example, here, here, here, and, again, here), but perhaps the most troubling signs for the Kings were that a growing number of players seem less than enthused at the prospect of playing for their organization.

Linus Ullmark’s reported refusal to be traded to the Kings made sense given his desire to stay in the East and closer to his native Sweden. Mikko Rantanen and Brad Marchand had superior options in Dallas and Florida, respectively. Trade target Rasmus Andersson has reportedly zeroed in on one destination, and it’s the same one Mitch Marner chose over the Kings and other suitors, the rival Vegas Golden Knights.

But forget big names in the trade and free-agent market, the Kings are having an increasing amount of difficulty keeping their own players.

In consecutive offseasons, they’ve lost their top unrestricted free agents with Matt Roy walking to Washington and his former defense partner Vladislav Gavrikov rebuffing the confident Kings in favor of the tumult-laden New York Rangers.

In both cases, then General Manager Rob Blake – Blake himself opted not to return after his contract expired last season – expressed desire as well as varying levels of certitude in the players returning.

With Roy, he’d expected to accelerate talks near the Christmas break in 2023 and said the Kings were bidding until the closing bell for Roy’s services last summer. With Gavrikov, Blake outright said he was expecting him to sign a long-term extension in March only for Gavrikov to switch coasts on July 1, even after the Kings made multiple offers.

Gavrikov was not introduced formally and the Rangers puzzlingly canceled plans to make him available prior to training camp. He was voted the Kings’ top defenseman last year, but saw his role reduced significantly when Drew Doughty returned from ankle surgery. He also played noticeably fewer minutes than not only Doughty but Joel Edmundson during a first-round fold against the Oilers in which the Kings lost four straight games to be eliminated for a fourth straight time by Edmonton.

That wasn’t dissimilar to promising defenseman Jordan Spence, 24, who was persona non grata in the playoffs and headed for a diminished role until Holland shipped him to Ottawa. He joined Gavrikov as the latest in a series of valuable Kings rearguards that have netted limited return or none at all.

Their next order of business will be re-signing leading scorer Adrian Kempe. New GM Ken Holland said he met with Kempe’s agent, CAA’s J.P. Barry, at the scouting combine, and said he would soon be looking to extend Kempe.

Kempe was asked about the extension during his final media availability of the 2024-25 cycle, saying at first that the talks might go into the regular season but later saying his ideal preference would be signing a deal as soon as possible.

“I want to take the next step with this organization, I want to take it back to winning. The identity and the – I think we’re doing the right things,” Kempe said. “We sat here after the last four seasons and said the same things, but it really felt like we had something (good) going on this year.”

Whether or not the Kings can sustain or improve upon last year’s finish, among the best in franchise history with 48 wins and 105 points but dampened massively by a playoff flameout, remains to be seen.

Holland said the acquisitions of Cody Ceci, who struggled against Edmonton as a member of the Dallas Stars in last year’s playoffs and was let go by the Oilers a year earlier, and Brian Dumoulin, a player who was traded cheaply last summer but sought-after at both the trade deadline and July 1 free agent opening, gave the Kings a bigger, more defensive-oriented blue line with five penalty-kill contributors.

“I think it makes (the defense corps) different; we believe it’s going to be better,” Holland said, adding that “the trading front, from our perspective, not being, really, somewhere to go” regarding any further acquisitions.

In the past 13 seasons, Roy and Gavrikov were the only players to unseat Drew Doughty as the Kings’ top defenseman. Both departed in free agency. Sean Walker and Helge Grans were sent along with a second-round pick to dump approximately $6 million in salary over two years, in large part to re-sign Gavrikov to a short-term deal. Sean Durzi was jettisoned in the leadup to the Pierre-Luc Dubois catastrophe, effectively leaving the Kings with nothing to show for him.

Gavrikov, 29, has been very durable, missing just 19 games across six seasons, the bulk of which came not due to injury but because of a complicated situation where he was held out of action pending one trade that fell through and, later, another that sent him to the Kings. Despite his seven-year term, he’ll be 36 when it expires, a year older than Ceci, 31, and the same age as Dumoulin, 33, will be when their shorter-term pacts expire.

Holland posited that Kings management was looking to refine and improve around the edges, small bumps in different areas that aggregated to something greater. He also pointed out that the character of the players brought in, emphasizing Dumoulin perhaps more than the other four players he signed on July 1, would be an asset.

“We’re moving good people into the locker room,” Holland said. “We’ve moving in pros, we’re moving in good people that we think will help us on the ice, but will (also help us have) a team with real good chemistry off the ice.”

Lord, 40, will guide the AHL’s Ontario Reign. That’s a step up from his stewardship of the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits, who are the AA affiliate to the Reign’s AAA, a duty he carried out from 2020-24. In his final season, he was honored as the ECHL Coach of the Year. Most recently, he shepherded the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL to a playoff berth and a first-round upset last season.

Now, he will replace Marco Sturm as the Reign’s bench boss after Sturm landed his first NHL head coaching gig, with the Boston Bruins, earlier this offseason.

Prior to his arrival in the Kings’ organization, Lord began his coaching career overseas in Wales, first as a player-coach and then as the head coach of the Cardiff Devils.

“We are excited to welcome Andrew to the Kings and Reign family as the head coach of the Ontario Reign,” Reign general manager Richard Seeley said. “At just 40 years old, Andrew has over 10 years of coaching experience in both Europe and North America and has shown the ability to create a winning culture in a variety of different environments. Andrew’s familiarity with our organization as head coach of our ECHL affiliate in Greenville will serve him well as he continues to develop the L.A. Kings prospects here in Ontario and his passion and work ethic will help further the strong culture in place with our existing staff.”

Hailing from West Vancouver, British Columbia, Lord played college hockey for the RPI Engineers before moving onto the minor-league level and playing professionally in Germany and Wales. That path was somewhat parallel to the one walked by Kings coach Jim Hiller, another B.C. native and collegiate competitor (Northern Michigan) who played pro most extensively in Europe, primarily in Germany before spending a season in Italy.

After adding substantially to Cardiff’s trophy case, Lord led the Swamp Rabbits to the playoffs in each of his four seasons at the helm, including a conference finals run.

In Ontario, assistants Chris Hajt and Brad Schuler remain aboard to work under Lord.

“I am extremely excited and feel very fortunate to be a part of such a great organization,” Lord said. “I want to thank both the L.A. Kings and Ontario Reign, specifically (Kings GM) Ken Holland, (Kings director of player development) Glenn Murray and Richard Seeley for this incredible opportunity. I cannot wait to get started and do my part to carry on the great tradition of excellence and development put in place by former and current staff and players.”

After trading for Erik Portillo, who made his successful NHL debut last year but later sustained a back injury that cut his campaign short, the Kings drafted Hampton Slukynsky in the fourth round two years ago, snagged Carter George in last summer’s second round and just added Petteri Rimpinen A.K.A. “Mr Showtime” as a fifth-rounder.

Kings scouting director Mark Yannetti said that European scout Christian Ruuttu extolled Rimpinen even before his Herculean showing at the World Junior Championships. There, he was voted the best goaltender of the tournament. Even given their already burgeoning depth between the pipes, they had no choice but to take the hyper-athletic, undersized netminder as he fell to No. 152 overall, Yannetti said.

“We went from a position of strength in goaltending, maybe the strongest in the league, and then for years it became a position of weakness, maybe bottom five in the league,” Yannetti said. “With the volatility of prospects and players being moved, I don’t think you can ever have too much of one (position).”

The Kings had two other goalies in those same World Juniors, and they would both join their respective national teams for the senior World Championships as well.

Slukynsky, 20, was a very small kid from an even smaller town (Warroad, Minn.) when the Kings selected him. What he has accomplished since required him to quicken his cadence to cram every accolade, honor, trophy and championship into a concise recap.

“The last year and a half has been crazy, it’s kind of been a whirlwind,” Slukynsky began. “It’s been great, playing in the (United States Hockey League) and winning the Clark Cup there. Going to college, I was supposed to go to Northern Michigan, but I ended up decommitting and going to Western Michigan. I found a great spot, everything there is first-class and really professional, great coaches, great guys and a great team. We were able to win the national championship, which was the cherry on top and really cool to be a part of.”

“I also got to be a part of the World Junior team, win the gold medal and help contribute there, and then I got to go to the World Championships to hang out with a bunch of NHL’ers and represent the USA again. It’s been really cool and a lot of fun. I try to enjoy all of it.”

Slukynsky arrived at Western Michigan with his brother Grant, 23, who transferred from Northern Michigan. Grant had reached the NCAA before Hampton and won a Clark Cup the season before Hampton’s triumph, but after a breakout season for Grant, he joined Hampton at Kings’ development camp this week. This time, it was finally the elder Slukynsky following in the footsteps of his younger brother.

“It’s my third time and his first time, so I’ve been giving him advice and helping him out a little bit, but he’s a good player and he can handle all this,” Slukynsky said. “Being able to share this experience with him and being treated like an NHL’er for a week has been really cool.”

The Slukynsky brothers weren’t the only pair of Broncos making their way from Kalamazoo to California. Captain Tim Washe, 23, signed with the Ducks after winning the national title and played his first two NHL games at the end of last season.

“Washe signed with Anaheim and played a couple games there, and if we ended up playing against each in the NHL, that’d be pretty sweet,” Slukynsky said.

George enjoyed more individual than team success, shouldering an enormous load for a low-expectation Owen Sound Attack squad that he willed to the playoffs with repeated displays of will and acrobatics.

He said “skating with the big dogs” during training camp last season, including during two exhibition games, and making his minor pro debut at the end of the year bookended his campaign with instructive, formative experiences.

“Then, I ended up going to the men’s worlds, and that was the cherry on top, getting to meet guys like (Marc-André Fleury and Jordan Binnington),” George said. “That was awesome, I learned so much from them. We went out and I sat down with them for an hour and a half to shoot the (breeze), it was awesome.”

In the middle of his season, George represented Canada at the World Juniors. Despite his two shutouts and overall miserly numbers, Canada failed to medal. That’s something George is looking forward to rectifying next winter.

“At Christmas time, I’d like to be wearing a gold medal around my neck,” George said.

Defenseman Samuel Bolduc joined forwards Logan Brown, Cole Guttman and Taylor Ward among those inking new pacts. Ward, 27, re-signed after spending all or part of the past four seasons with the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League, where he’ll ply his trade for at least one more year now.

Bolduc is a 6-foot-4, 225-pound left defenseman with 52 games of NHL experience, including one last season. The 24-year-old effectively replaced Caleb Jones, another NHL-AHL tweener, after he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Bolduc spent his entire career in the New York Islanders’ system, including last season, which he spent mostly with their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport. He, like Brown and Ward, agreed to a one-year deal.

Guttman, 26, is a University of Denver product and won an NCAA championship with the Pioneers. Though the Northridge native was a draft pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, he’s played his entire career in the Chicago Blackhawks organization. He has 14 points in 41 NHL games with Chicago, but spent all of last season on the North Side with the Blackhawks’ affiliate in Rockford. He signed a two-year deal with the Kings.

Brown, 27, was once a lottery pick, drafted 11th overall in 2016 by the Ottawa Senators ahead of the likes of Boston’s Charlie McAvoy and Washington’s Jakob Chychrun. Brown has 99 games of NHL experience between stretches with the Senators and St. Louis Blues.

He missed the entire 2023-24 season after undergoing hip surgery. Last season, he rebounded brilliantly with his best AHL campaign to date. He was not offered a contract after his professional tryout with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but remained with their affiliate in Syracuse, where he put up 29 points in 33 games.

Yet neither Rob Blake, who conveyed near total confidence that a contract extension would get done, nor Ken Holland, who succeeded Blake and won four Stanley Cup titles in Detroit, could accomplish that top-line goal.

Gavrikov, 29, signed a contract for $49 million over seven years with the New York Rangers on Tuesday, leaving the Kings with a gaping hole in their defense corps above the one left by the trade of Jordan Spence to the Ottawa Senators for draft picks last Saturday.

The Kings did address both vacancies with modest, veteran additions, committing the same $8.5 million that Gavrikov and Spence will make next season to veterans Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin.

Gavrikov arrived in Los Angeles ahead of the 2023 trade deadline in a late-night swap that involved franchise legend Jonathan Quick and two draft picks going to Columbus in exchange for Gavrikov and the since departed goalie Joonas Koripisalo.

He accumulated 62 points across 179 games in black and silver to go with a +47 rating. In 2024-25, he enhanced his value by moving to his off-side and playing right defense on the Kings’ top pairing in the absence of Drew Doughty for the majority of the campaign while Doughty recovered from a broken ankle.

Gavrikov’s formidable performance as part of a shutdown tandem with Mikey Anderson expanded a body of work that included similar heavy duty during his final partial season with the Blue Jackets. It also encompassed some strong efforts down the stretch that year for the Kings and a superb stint to start the 2023-24 season that was curbed by a knee injury he sustained during a December road trip.

During the course of negotiations, Gavrikov changed representatives from Daniel Milstein, a very popular agent among Russian players like Gavrikov, to Pat Brisson, a close associate of Kings executives Luc Robitaille and Marc Bergevin. Brisson also represented Blake during his playing career, as well as captain Anže Kopitar, but not even those connections salvaged the pact.

Blake had said that once the agent switch occurred, he felt confident a long-term deal would get done promptly. Yet Holland did not bring that ship into port despite having made additional offers beyond Blake’s, and he acknowledged on Saturday that Gavrikov would enter Tuesday’s opening of free agency without an extension.

Gavrikov won Olympic gold with the delegation of athletes representing Russia in 2018 and has garnered medals in international competition on three other occasions, winning silver at the World Junior Championships and bronze twice at the senior level.

But he’s never been beyond the first round of the NHL postseason, something he’ll seek to rectify once he reaches his new destination. The Rangers were conference finalists in 2022 and 2024, but missed the playoffs last year amid internal turmoil and defensive struggles.

Perry, 40, won the Hart Trophy and a Stanley Cup title during his 14 seasons with the Ducks. More recently, he has been to five of the past six Stanley Cup Final series, losing each time. That included the last two years with another Kings rival, the Edmonton Oilers.

During his introduction on Tuesday via teleconference, Perry admitted he never really envisioned himself in a Kings sweater and that it might feel strange the first time he pulled it over his shoulders. Yet he noted that he had played for a number of teams that had been rivals, all with the same tenacity and professionalism.

“I’m just going to let my play speak [for itself] and go from there,” Perry said. “Obviously, I’ve had many battles against L.A., and the fans were passionate and hard, and it’s exciting when you see that. Now I’ve got to get them on my side.”

Perry was a player who new Kings general manager Ken Holland brought into Edmonton initially, as was new defenseman Cody Ceci ($4.5 million AAV), who will man the right side for the Kings after they dealt away Jordan Spence. Ceci spent last year with San Jose and Dallas, but went to the Final with Edmonton in 2024.

“Kenny brought me into Edmonton, we had some deep runs together, so that was definitely a factor that played into (the signing),” Ceci said.

Another former Duck, albeit a lower-profile one, will operate on the left side of the Kings’ blue line. Brian Dumoulin ($4 million AAV), who won two Cup championships with the Pittsburgh Penguins, split last season between the Ducks and New Jersey Devils. Initially expressing a preference for the East Coast, he warmed up to Southern California during his time in Anaheim and now will make his home just a short drive north for the next three seasons, one fewer than Ceci.

“We had such a great experience in Anaheim. The quality of life in Southern California played a big part in my decision,” Dumoulin said. “My family loved it. Although it’s far from [Boston] where we live in the summer, it was such a good experience that it made it easy to go back there.”

The Kings also added winger Joel Armia ($2.5 million AAV), who should bolster their penalty kill considerably as he did for the Montreal Canadiens, and backup goalie Anton Forsberg ($2.25 million AAV), who had the same role for the Ottawa Senators last season. They each signed two-year pacts, rounding out a plentiful group of acquisitions on the first day of free agency.

Perry and Armia fulfilled not only Ken Holland’s quest for what Coach Jim Hiller would deem a serviceable fourth line – he all but turned his fourth line into three healthy scratches during much of the Kings’ fourth straight first-round loss to Edmonton – but also filled roles on special teams.

They are both right-handed shots, something the Kings’ forward group needed desperately. Armia is a superb penalty killer, while Perry has long been a top-notch netfront presence on the power play. Both bring a high level of competitiveness and intensity.

“I played with him in Montreal, and we got put together on a line with Eric Staal,” Perry said of Armia, with whom he went to the 2021 Final. “I thought we had good chemistry and we kind of took off. We kind of think the game alike and play it alike.”

The elephant in the room was the apparent fumbling of the Vladislav Gavrikov extension. His departure to the New York Rangers left the Kings scrambling to find another granite-strong defenseman in a paper-thin market.

“Players and teams are free to make decisions. We were involved in negotiations since before I got here. Ultimately, we couldn’t find, obviously, anything that worked for both sides,” Holland said via teleconference.

Holland did not specify if dollars, term or role were factors. Though Gavrikov’s deemphasis in the postseason was not as drastic as Spence’s, it was noticeable. He was the Kings’ top defenseman during the regular season, but seemed to be deprioritized in favor of a recovering Drew Doughty and the much less well-rounded Joel Edmundson.

Holland’s predecessor, Rob Blake, said he felt confident Gavrikov would re-sign with the Kings.

Multiple reports over the past two seasons have indicated that Linus Ullmark, Mikko Rantanen and Rasmus Andersson effectively vetoed potential trades to the Kings.

Even so, Holland rejected the notion that the Kings lacked a strong draw for free agents and contracted players with trade protection, calling it “totally inaccurate.”

“Seven hundred players don’t all want to go to one spot,” Holland said. “Lots of players want to come to L.A. We talked to lots of people. We made some decisions on some players who wanted to be here.”

Kuzmenko, 29, arrived at the trade deadline. Not only did he score 17 points in 22 games, all of which came in a 14-match stretch, but his ostensibly modest addition had a significant ripple effect.

He sparked the top line, reinvigorating Anže Kopitar and Adrian Kempe after a midseason lull. He allowed several forwards to slot into more natural roles, creating better offensive balance and catapulting overall scoring.

The Kings had ranked 27th in goals per game for the better part of two seasons, but placed second in the NHL during Kuzmenko’s initial stint. They also won 17 of 22 games with Kuzmenko in their lineup.

Last Wednesday, Kings general manager Ken Holland said he had been in contact with Kuzmenko’s agent, Craig Oster, and that they had both zeroed in a short-term deal. Kuzmenko made $5.5 million annually on his previous two-year contract. While he took a pay cut, he will seek to use this season to rebuild his value in order to sign a long-term pact at age 30, as Holland acknowledged.

Kuzmenko didn’t arrive in the NHL until age 26 after lighting up Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League with 53 points in 45 games. Holland said he had pursued Kuzmenko out of Russia with the Detroit Red Wings and again when his Edmonton Oilers lost out to the Vancouver Canucks.

In his first season with Vancouver, Kuzmenko thrived with 39 goals. In his next two campaigns, he didn’t match that total cumulatively, depositing 33 goals across two seasons that were spread between Vancouver, Calgary, Philadelphia and, finally, the Kings’ dressing room.

Free agency opens on Tuesday with more and more names coming off the board by the hour.

Notably, Mitch Marner traded blue and white for gold and gray, as he went from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade arrangement.

Vegas is also the frontrunner to land Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson via trade, per multiple reports. TSN’s Darren Dreger divulged that Holland made a hefty offer to Calgary during this weekend’s draft, only to discover that Andersson, who is a 2026 UFA, was not interested in extending his contract if he were traded to the Kings.

The Florida Panthers re-signed both Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad to long-term deals, allowing the defending champs to retain all three of their notable UFAs after already locking up Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett. Columbus also re-signed Ivan Provorov, taking another potential blue-line target off the board.

Kuzmenko was not the only Russian that the Kings were courting to remain in the fold. Defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov has grown increasingly vital to the Kings on the ice and, now, in the offseason. While they have been in consistent contact with Gavrikov’s new representative, Pat Brisson, Holland has expressed little in the way of outward confidence.

While Holland’s tendency has long been to under-promise and over-deliver, his tone has been unmistakable and LoHud’s Vincent Mercogliano reported that at least one league source told him that Gavrikov signing with the New York Rangers was a “done deal.”

He addressed the media three times in the week leading up to Tuesday’s FA kickoff, with each session stressing a need for defensemen while revealing that it became increasingly broad and urgent.

Holland said defense was “at the top of the to-do list” and had “most of (his) focus,” all while revealing that two of the Kings’ most consistently dressed defensemen last year would not return for 2025-26.

After detailing that it didn’t seem as though Jordan Spence, who played 79 of 82 regular-season games and five of six playoff games in a reduced role, would hold his top-six spot, he traded Spence to give him a fresh start in a contract year. All the while, Holland was cognizant of the possibility that Vladislav Gavrikov, who can play either side and was voted the Kings’ top defenseman last year, could depart in free agency, a possibility that grew more salient over the weekend.

“It’s looking more and more like he’s going to go to July 1 [as a free agent],” Holland said on Saturday via teleconference. “As we all know, I would anticipate that there’ll be some players around the league that are UFA that are going to sign between now and Monday. I’m not sure if Gavrikov is one or if he’s not. But if he’s not, then we have to obviously wade into the market and get a defenseman or two.”

Goaltending

The Kings are set with their No. 1 netminder in Darcy Kuemper, the man who arrived for a second stint in Los Angeles with a cape on his back and a season where he was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, ready to unfurl. While he cleansed the Kings’ palette of some of the bitterness from their failed Pierre-Luc Dubois acquisition, Kuemper is 35 and had two stints on IR last year, meaning the Kings could be on the trail of a veteran backup to split duties with Kuemper.

There have been several rumblings that the Kings could be in the market for another veteran goalie to play behind Kuemper. Their in-house options are limited, with David Rittich being an underperforming, pending unrestricted free agent (Holland said he’d maintained communication with Rittich’s agent, Craig Oster), Erik Portillo sustaining a back injury last year and Pheonix Copley being re-signed as a No. 3 option.

Ubiquitous hockey maven Pierre LeBrun mentioned that the Kings could have interest in New Jersey’s Jake Allen, though he may be coveted for a larger role by another team. It’s a thin goalie market in terms of starters, but finding a backup may be quite feasible.

Forward

Trade deadline acquisition Andrei Kuzmenko is a pending UFA and could return on a short-term deal, which was the preference of both team and player, Holland said on Wednesday. Alex Laferriere is the only notable RFA for the Kings, but his lack of arbitration rights makes that a leveraged situation for Holland in the short run.

The biggest fish in the free-agent sea is Toronto’s Mitch Marner, who joined the late Johnny Gaudreau and Artemi Panarin among the most elite forwards to hit the free-agent market this decade. Marner rivals their offensive capacity while bringing much more on the other side of the puck. His well-roundedness, combined with the escalating cap ceiling, will make his payday bigger than either Gaudreau’s or Panarin’s. Though the Vegas Golden Knights have emerged as a front-runner for his services, the Kings were also reported to have made an offer for his negotiating rights on Saturday. Holland declined to comment on the report later that afternoon.

Veteran Brad Marchand intrigued the Kings at the trade deadline, but he ended up in Florida as a major contributor to the Panthers’ second consecutive Stanley Cup. There could be some other possibilities in both the FA and trade markets, but filling two top-six defense spots, including one high in the lineup, could force them to consider mid-priced options, with Kuzmenko being the foremost among them.

Defense

Not only do the Kings likely have a pair of holes to fill on defense, but outside of workhorse Mikey Anderson, they’ve got question marks in their existing personnel. Drew Doughty is coming off his second serious injury in the past four years, a broken ankle that cost him over 50 games last season. Joel Edmundson has always been an injury risk despite playing a career-high number of games in 2024-25, his first campaign as a King. In trading Spence, they may have moved out a stylistic fit, in the eyes of coaches Jim Hiller and D.J. Smith, but replacing him with another right defenseman of comparable quality will be extremely difficult for the same $1.5 million.

Similarly, few if any options on the free-agent market could match the versatility, stalwartness or overall impact of Gavrikov. Right defenseman Aaron Ekblad has come down to the wire in negotiations with defending champion Florida (as has Marchand), but won’t for sure be available Tuesday, and will be quite costly if he does hit the open market.

There are mid-level options as well, though Gavrikov was well above the league median and Spence performed very effectively for a third-pairing rearguard. Another Panther, left defenseman Nate Schmidt, who made just $800,000 last year but exceeded the expectations of his show-me deal, could be in the mix, as could right defenseman Cody Ceci, whom Holland signed in Edmonton and spent last season split between San Jose and Dallas.