Kings Arvidsson & Roy at Contractual Crossroads
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The Los Angeles Kings are on the brink of significant changes as the contracts of key players Matt Roy and Viktor Arvidsson are set to expire this offseason. The team is poised to have a substantial 20+ million in cap room, but this figure could shrink significantly due to the need for a new contract for future cornerstone Quinton Byfield and a potential goalie vacancy.
Roy has been a stalwart top-four pairing defenseman, and his regular-season analytics are excellent. He has only suited up for the Kings in his six-year career and has posted admirable stats for being a defense-first defenseman with a heavy shot: 369 GP, 24 Goals, 82 Assists, 106 points, and a +67. He’s been the defenseman who has driven the bus defensively outside the top pair.
His next contract can fetch around 5-6 million for any team, let alone the Kings. His frequent partner, Vladislav Gavrikov, makes over six million; they are both relative in age and experience.
Should they let Roy walk into free agency, the Kings also have an ace up their sleeve. Youngster Brandt Clarke has tasted the NHL and absolutely dominated the AHL and is primed to enter the NHL roster for a permanent spot. The Kings already have Jordan Spence on the roster, and he was one of the few bright spots in the playoffs, reminiscent of Paul Ladue in 2018 but better.
Keeping Brandt Clarke, your top prospect in the AHL, for another year looks like a massive mistake. With a plethora of strikeouts and mismanagement of prospects throughout Rob Blake’s tenure as general manager, the time is neigh to get your best prospects suited up full time. Clarke is the only player in the pipeline with an elite-level ceiling and is primed to log more considerable minutes for a King’s club positioned to take a step backward next season.
That being the case, Clarke should be thrust into the lineup next season, regardless of the game outcomes. He needs consistent NHL time to establish himself and his overall game. In his exit interview, Drew Doughty perked up about Clarke, adding that he would love to sit down and go over the video to help his defensive game.
Why go over the video when you can learn from the man live? Doughty should be joined by Clarke and Spence as the right-handed shot defenseman on the D corps to start next year. This leaves Roy with a well-deserved and hefty paycheck for another club.
Arvidsson could well be in the same boat. Turning to the wrong side of 30 in professional sports is weary. When healthy, he has been an excellent top-six producer with the Kings. For the cost of bringing him in from Nashville, he’s been everything and more for the club, just when healthy. During his exit interview, Arvidsson said that he had to get over two injuries during the season, though it didn’t affect him in the playoffs, and that he’s expected to go into this offseason healthy.
The problem is a blockage of forwards coming up in the Kings system. Alex Laferriere earned his spot and played most of the year and every playoff game as a starter. Alex Turcotte showed extreme promise for the once highly touted first-round pick. Akil Thomas completely dominated his small stint in the NHL. Samuel Fagemo continues to shred the AHL as a goal scorer but has yet to find footing in the big league.
Then there’s the enigma, Arthur Kaliyev, who is likely playing for another club next year. The gifted goal-scoring Staten Island native has been punished for being who he is, and while his goal-scoring dried up, so did his live-action playing days.
Too many guys need to be inserted into the lineup full-time and are at the right age to start assimilating. An argument can be made that it should have been sooner.
Roy and Arvidsson have become impact players during their time with the Kings. Arvidsson was already a bus driver with Nashville and started to rack up injuries in his later years as a Predator, and it’s starting to pile up with LA.
As impactful as they’ve been, it’s time to take a new direction in LA and let the kids play. It’s about time to turn the corner after three disappointing postseason exits. The future is in the youth, which is ironic as Blake spent the first few seasons composing a prospect pipeline that was the envy of the league. As it’s starting to dry up considerably, it’s time to utilize those left.
Roy and Arvidsson’s contracts will act as blockers for the young guns that need to inhale that NHL-rarified air. It’s time to move on; let the kids play, save some money to get a solid netminder, and play with the cards you have decided to get dealt.