The Los Angeles Kings have to prioritize Vladislav Gavrikov
John Hoven from Mayors Manor and Kings podcastHoven writes: Los Angeles Kings and General Motors Rob Blake Vladislav Gavrikov must sign. The Kings have been looking for a home defenseman for years. They finally got one on Gavrikov at the trade deadline.
NHL Rumors: Los Angeles Kings, and The Seattle Kraken
Gavrikov will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1 and will likely get paid if he hits the open market. If you look around the league, one of his comparisons is Mackenzie Weigher From the Flames, who will carry their new AAV deal at $6.25 million per season.
The Kings are against it, but if the dollar amount falls short of Weegar on a long-term deal, Blake has done his job. But don’t forget that the Kings like most teams have other players to sign and have to play within the salary cap rules.
The Chicago Blackhawks are looking to move up in the NHL Draft
Charlie Romeliotis from NBC Sports Chicago: As Romeliotis writes, the Chicago Blackhawks scooped the gold medal when they won the NHL lottery where they would pick number one and top prospect Conor Bedard.
But that’s not the only pick the Blackhawks have as Blackhawks GM Kyle Davidson spoke about it in his recent radio appearance in Chicago. 670 score Mully & HaughTrading in the draft, Davidson said, is “definitely something we’re exploring”.
NHL Rumors: Blackhawks, Kane, Maple Leafs, Penguins, Rangers, and the Devils
The Blackhawks have four second-round home runs and two third-round home runs, and it helps that they have an additional first baseman from Tampa Bay at number 19 overall. This gives Chicago options with their capital project.
Two options include using selection to draft a player who helps them now or they can compile 19th overall and another selection to move up and go after a team with less trial capital. Not to mention, they could use some later round picks to get back into the late first round because it’s a deep draft this year.