Today the LA Kings have acquired defensemen Kevin Connauton and forward Hayden Hodgson in a three-team trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Philadelphia Flyers. Full trade:
Philadelphia receives: defensemen Sean Walker and Helge Grans, goaltender Cal Petersen and a second-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft from the Kings
Columbus receives: defenseman Ivan Provorov from the Flyers
Kings receives: defenseman Kevin Connauton and forward Hayden Hodgson from the Flyers and will retain 30% of Ivan Provorov's contract, which will expire at the conclusion of the 2024-25 season.
So why did Kings make this trade and was it a good trade? Well, the primary reason was to clear up cap space and yes, it was a good trade. Kings are expected to re-sign D Vladislav Gavrikov, maybe even G Joonas Korpisalo, and others. Onviously, Kings need to find money for that and trading away Sean Walker and Cal Petersen gives them quite a bit of additional cap space. Petersen was making $5 million a year and didn't even play most of last season. Trading a goalie not playing and making that much was a big move for the Kings. Not many teams would take that but Kings managed to do it. Petersen probably wouldn't have played much for the Kings next season if he stayed. As for Sean Walker, it was tough trading him as he was a favorite to many fans but had to be done. He was making around $2 million and didn't really fit in the lineup for the Kings. The Kings are pretty stacked on players with Walker's position. Plus, Kings are reportedly trying to use more defensive prospects like Brandt Clarke on the right side of LA's defense which will cost a lot less money. This trade would move out $7.65 in salary cap hits between Petersen and Walker, while agreeing to take on about $2 million of Provorov’s contract. The Kings free up between $4 million and $5.65 million in salary cap space, depending on where Connauton and Hayden Hodgson slot into the depth chart.
Kings also had to trade one of their prospects, D Helge Grans, while also giving up a 2024 2nd pick. This was tough to give up and sounds like Kings got played but they didn't. Like I mentioned earlier, trading away a player making $5 million and hardly played is tough.
So who are the Kings acquired players Kevin Connauton and Hayden Hodgson? Connauton is a veteran defenseman who can play both sides of the ice and comes with a cap hit of just $762,500 at the NHL level. He is 33 and played most of last season in the AHL recording 15 points (3-12=15) in 63 games last season. Seems like a waste but the key here is that the Kings get a veteran who played 360 NHL games for the price of less than $1 million. Overall, he played nine NHL seasons and he has registered 80 points (28-52=80) in those 360 career games. Hodgson, however, is a forward who hardly has much NHL experience but is starting to develop into an NHL player late in his career at age 27. Last season in the AHL, he registered eight points (3-5=8) and 83 penalty minutes (PIM) in 44 games. He's also making less than a million so not a bad pick up.
So in the end, this trade gives Kings between $12 million and $13.5 million or more in salary cap space. The salary cap is expected to rise by $1 million as it is scheduled to. Kings now have more money to re-sign players they need or sign new players and didn't even have to give up too much to get the money. Tough to lose Petersen and Walker but it's just business. Good trade.
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