I like Johnsson, but he's 24 and has about 70 solid games under his belt. He'd pretty well have the best agent in the league if he can get $4M on a 2 yr bridge.

Right now Kings have : $11,728,106 in cap space and only 19 under contract. Subtract 6.25M for Marleau and you get 5.478M left with 20 under contract. Now look at the standings from last year. Will Marleau and 3 additional players (that you can get for 5.478M) be enough of an improvement to stay out of the draft lottery? Or do you think LA is going to have a firesale? I just don't see LA or any team paying full freight for Marleau and think the draft compensation needs to be higher if they do.

Definitely too much cap hit on Johnsson. Barrie trade looks good though. Also, with your 1.5M+ in cap space you could sign Marner to 11M for a very long time.

I think giving up a first to give Marleau's mentorship to a team nowhere near the cap or having cap problems is fine but reports say they want a bad contract going to the Leafs too.

Likely Carter with retained salary.