Once a Kings Fan Too
Joined: Jun. 2018
Posts: 40,310
Likes: 25,220
It's absurd to assert that because Los Angeles has "no NHL LD under contract" -- a statement which, to begin with, is demonstrably and hilariously false -- therefore, Muzzin is worth a third-round draft pick to the Kings. There are two LDs on the roster right now (Alex Edler and Olli Maatta) who don't become free agents until July 1 and could easily supply the same performance as Muzzin. In fact, here are the figures for Edler and Muzzin:
Edler, 41 games, 3 goals, 19 points, +18, 52.1 Corsi, 54.4 Fenwick, would not cost more than $3.5 million to sign.
Muzzin, 47 games, 3 goals, 14 points, -6 , 48.1 Corsi, 47.9 Fenwick, cap hit of $5.625 million.
Mikey Anderson is a RFA and will sign a new contract in the off-season; he is so highly regarded by management that there has already been noise about his getting an "A" soon. So your perception that the Kings are desperate to acquire a $5.625 million veteran is utterly unfounded. The #1 LD we're looking for is someone along the lines of Jakob Chychrun, Ivan Provorov, Mikhail Sergachev and similar young first-class defensemen with term. Muzzin is exactly the opposite of those guys.