Kings sign forward Alex Laferriere to three-year contract extension (AAV: $4,100,000)

The LA Kings have signed forward Alex Laferriere to a three-year contract extension, carrying an AAV of $4,100,000 at the NHL level. Laferriere’s contract will take him through the 2027-28 season and he will be a restricted free agent at the end of his contract.

Instant Analysis
Good to get a deal done.

Laferriere and the Kings were always going to come to terms. In his exit interview, he made it pretty clear that he wants to be in Los Angeles. Ken Holland spoke about Laferriere and his camp reiterating that to him and Kings management over the summer, while also noting how much he and the organization appreciate what Laferriere brings. Feels like a bunch of factors that move towards a contract getting done and it did this week.

I always expected this to be a short-term contract and it feels like a real win/win for both player and team. Here’s why.

For the Kings, I think it’s important that Laferriere remains a restricted free agent at the end of his contract. A deal taking him to unrestricted free agency could have been risky, considering where he’s at in the free agency process. No indication it would have been, but one less thing to worry about now. From the team perspective, keeping this contract as one that keeps him as a restricted free agent at the end of the deal is an easy win.

In there here and now, a $4,100,000 salary-cap hit is more than manageable this season and leaves the Kings with plenty of room under the cap as they approach opening night in October. Laferriere finished just shy of burying 20 goals last season and he was an important and versatile member of the Top-9 who could play with just about anyone and can find a way to succeed on most lines. His production was definitely front-loaded, but his chance creation numbers never wavered even when the goals dried up, as detailed HERE. That’s a positive sign. Ideally, this is a contract that Laferriere exceeds. I firmly believe he’ll be a guy who scores in the 20’s year in and year out as he hits his prime and he’s probably got even more potential than that. I think he’ll certainly trend towards that next season. He was effective with the Kopitar/Kempe and Byfield/Fiala duos and has complementary abilities on both of those lines. Assuming he slots back with Byfield and Fiala to begin the season, as he ended 2024-25, there should be ample opportunities for him to score and to influence play, as he did last year.

From his perspective, I think this is a good deal as the salary cap is currently set up. A three-year contract takes us through what is known, meaning salary-cap figures through the end of the 2027-28 season. We know that the cap will escalate in each of the next two years and naturally the contract Laferriere signed reflects that. What a three-year contract does is it gives Laferriere the ability to sign what will likely be the longest-term and most lucrative contract of his NHL career entering the 2028-29 season, when the cap will be higher than it is now and when there should be more clarity on what the cap may look like beyond that season. In those terms, I think a three-year deal makes sense for him. He gets a sizeable raise now while also setting himself up to cash in down the road when I think just about everyone assumes he will be an even better player than it is today.

In signing Laferriere, the Kings have now rounded out their roster in terms of players who need contracts for the 2025-26 season. Laferriere’s deal leaves the team with between $2.5 and $3 million in cap space entering the season, depending on exactly who makes the team out of training camp towards the bottom of the roster. Puck Pedia currently has the Kings with $2,668,333 in space. Including Laferriere the roster has 20 players who are locks to make the team assuming full health. The final three spots for extra players will likely come down to camp battles in one form or another and those will ultimately determine what the final number is entering the season. Assuming the Kings don’t dip into LTIR, that total will only grow as the season progresses, which would give the team more flexibility than they’ve had in seasons past come the trade deadline.

In terms of next business, all attention turns to Adrian Kempe. Kempe has one season remaining on his contract before he would become a free agent in the summer of 2026. It feels like Kempe and the Kings are both motivated to make something work and he’s eligible to sign an extension for up to eight years, as one of the final players to have that option considering the upcoming changes to the CBA that will limit max-term to seven seasons. Will see how that progresses as we move along here in the summer.