Kings financials and salary chart: 2018 off-season

Insiders. A happy Thursday to you. I get asked around this time of the year about the team’s financials and find it helpful in advance of late-June and early July player movement to provide a chart – not as beautiful as CapFriendly’s, of course – of the team’s salary and contract commitments. Rich also provided a helpful lineup template around this time of the year, and those are entertaining to look back on.

First, the salary cap will be expected to rise from $75-million to between $78 and $82-million for the 2018-19 season, as Gary Bettman told reporters during December Board of Governors meetings. Further reports, hints and updates on the cap taking shape will come later this spring before the league and NHLPA jointly announce the new cap ceiling and floor via a release that traditionally comes in the third week of June.

Though there are no core players on contracts that expire on July 1, the most significant figure as it relates to financials, negotiations and free agency is of course Drew Doughty, who has one year remaining on his contract. On July 1, 2018, Doughty will be eligible to sign a new contract with the Kings that begins during the 2019-20 season, and in end-of-season media availability – and based on both gut feeling and the sense we’ve received from both the team and the player – there appeared to common goals in place to be able to ultimately get that done. General Manager Rob Blake referred to Doughty as the team’s “number one priority” this off-season, a notion underscored by Team President Luc Robitaille. Anze Kopitar intimated that he’s already conversed with Doughty about signing a new contract. “I’ve always wanted to be an LA King and want to stay an LA King,” Doughty said. So, in advance of *actual, concrete negotiations,* there at least appears to be a strong will and marriage between player and team.

Beyond Doughty, there aren’t aren’t really any contracts that should cause a surplus of drama this off-season. One player to keep an eye on is Tobias Rieder, an impending RFA whose two-year, $4.45-million contract is scheduled to expire on July 1. Barring a new contract in advance of late June, the Kings would have to choose whether to extend a qualifying offer to Rieder, which would allow them to continue negotiating with the player, though it also comes with the possibility that Rieder chooses to sign the qualifying offer, which would come at a significant cap hit of $2,450,000, per CapFriendly’s calculator. If the Kings do not extend a qualifying offer, they could still re-sign the player, but would lose exclusive negotiating rights. The last time the Kings re-signed a player they did not qualify as an RFA was Keaton Ellerby during the 2013 off-season.

Any decision is likely be made in mid-June in advance of the draft, based on hockey operations correspondence, and the team is currently weighing its lineup options with a particular eye on Rieder. Nothing on this front is expected to come into clear focus prior to the lead-up to the draft. Rieder totaled 12 goals and 25 points in 78 games last season, which included four goals and six points in 20 games with Los Angeles.

In addition to the figures below, Los Angeles is still on the hook for Matt Greene’s buyout, which carries an $833K cap hit in 2018-19, Mike Richards’ cap recapture, which carries a $1.32M cap hit through 2019-20, and Richards’ termination, which carries a cap hit that fluctuates between $400K and $900K through 2031-32.

With all that said, as of right now, the Kings have 22 players under contract for a combined $72.27-million in 2018-19, figures that include the contracts of Gabriel Vilardi, Dan Brickley, Paul LaDue and Jonny Brodzinski but not Oscar Fantenberg or Sheldon Rempal. (Don’t read anything into that.) These figures also include the cap hits connected to the Greene buyout and Richards’ cap recapture and termination. Keep in mind that these numbers will remain in flux throughout the off-season as players are signed, traded or acquired via trade.

Again, stick taps to CapFriendly for a number of roster, salary cap and CBA resources. For a better visual of this template, click here.

Expiring July 1, 2018
Torrey Mitchell
Christian Folin
Kevin Gravel
Andrew Crescenzi
Michael Mersch
Scott Wedgewood
Tobias Rieder (RFA)
Oscar Fantenberg (RFA)
Paul LaDue (RFA)
Jordan Subban (RFA)
Alex Lintuniemi (RFA)
Justin Auger (RFA)
Kurtis MacDermid (RFA)

Expiring After 2018-19 (Cap Hit)
Drew Doughty (7M)
Nate Thompson (1.65M)
Andy Andreoff (678K)
Sheldon Rempal (RFA / 925K)
Alex Iafallo (RFA / 925K)
Adrian Kempe (RFA / 894K)
Jonny Brodzinski (RFA / 650K)
Daniel Brickley (RFA / 925K)
Cal Petersen (RFA / 925K)
Matt Roy (RFA / 834K)
Michael Amadio (RFA / 718K)
Spencer Watson (RFA / 706K)
Damir Sharipzianov (RFA / 642K)*
*was on loan to KHL-Nizhnekamsk in 2017-18

Expiring After 2019-20 (Cap Hit)
Tyler Toffoli (4.6M)
Trevor Lewis (2M)
Kyle Clifford (1.6M)
Jake Muzzin (4M)
Derek Forbort (2.53M)
Jack Campbell (675K)
Kale Clague (RFA / 793K)
Austin Wagner (RFA / 759K)
Austin Strand (RFA / 759K)
Jaret Anderson-Dolan (RFA / 759K)
Cole Kehler (RFA / 745K)
Chaz Reddekopp (RFA / 733K)
Jacob Moverare (RFA / 713K)
Boko Imama (RFA / 707K)
Stepan Falkovsky (RFA / 698K)
Matt Luff (RFA / 677K)
Mikey Eyssimont (RFA / 834K)

Expiring After 2020-21 (Cap Hit)
Tanner Pearson (3.75M)
Dion Phaneuf (5.25M)
Alec Martinez (4M)
Brad Morrison (RFA / 743K)
Matt Villalta (RFA / 776K)
Gabriel Vilardi (RFA / 925K)

Expiring After 2021-22 (Cap Hit)
Dustin Brown (5.88M)
Jeff Carter (5.27M)

Expiring After 2022-23 (Cap Hit)
Jonathan Quick (5.8M)

Expiring After 2023-24 (Cap Hit)
Anze Kopitar (10M)