2026 Offseason Table Setter – Contracts, Cap Space & Free Agents

Insiders! Sharing a breakdown below of what the Kings are looking at here entering the 2026 offseason.

What they have are 12 forwards, five defensemen and two goaltenders under contract for next season, among players who played NHL games with the team a season ago. Those numbers are a bit deceptive, though, as they certainly have more holes to fill on the NHL roster than just one defenseman and a couple of extras.

The Kings have several depth players locked into contracts for 2026-27 at affordable, team-friendly cap hits. Players in that boat will make up spots at the bottom of the roster and the team’s extra skaters, with the possibility that one or more of those players could also be assigned to AHL-Ontario at the conclusion of training camp. The Kings are stacks on the wings but have question marks or improvements to be made just about everywhere else on the roster. That could come in a variety of different ways. A look below at who the Kings have under contract and who is a free agent entering the summer.

Under Contract
Forwards (12) – Joel Armia, Quinton Byfield, Kevin Fiala, Samuel Helenius, Adrian Kempe, Alex Laferriere, Andre Lee, Trevor Moore, Artemi Panarin, Alex Turcotte, Taylor Ward, Jared Wright

Defensemen (5) – Mikey Anderson, Cody Ceci, Brian Dumoulin, Drew Doughty, Joel Edmundson,

Goaltenders (2) – Anton Forsberg, Darcy Kuemper

Free Agents
UFA’s with NHL Games in 25/26 (7) – Pheonix Copley, Mathieu Joseph, Anze Kopitar, Andrei Kuzmenko, Scott Laughton, Jeff Malott, Jacob Moverare

RFA’s with NHL Games in 25/26 (1) – Brandt Clarke

UFA’s w/o NHL Games in 25/26 (5) – Nikita Alexandrov, Logan Brown, Kyle Burroughs, Glenn Gawdin, Jan Jenik

RFA’s w/o NHL Games in 25/26 (3) – Martin Chromiak, Aatu Jamsen, Francesco Pinelli

Prospects To Be Signed By 2026 (0) – None

I count 16 free agents in some variety. Considering Anze Kopitar’s retirement, that makes 15 players who the Kings need to make a decision on this summer, of varying degrees of priority and importance to the organization.

At the NHL level, the most impactful player in that group is defenseman Brandt Clarke, who is a restricted free agent this summer for the first time since he signed his entry-level contract with the Kings a few years back. Clarke has grown and developed into an effective NHL defenseman, elevating his game pretty significantly this past season in particular. He saw his usage grow substantially as well. Now, Clarke is a restricted free agent and his next contract could be the most sizable on the agenda here for the Kings. A long-term contract would most certainly be the largest financial commitment of the players listed above as free agents. AFP Analytics projects a seven-year contract for Clarke with an AAV of around $8 million per season, while they have a shorter term bridge deal pegged at around $5 million. That’s not science, more of a model based on performance. Clarke stated in his exit interview that he wants to be in Los Angeles long term but he also wants more responsibility with the team going forward. That could point towards a desire to sign longer term, though a shorter contract gives Clarke more ability to play his way into a higher AAV a year or two down the line, after his role and responsibility grow. Interesting dynamic at play.

With Laughton and Kuzmenko, they are the most notable of the unrestricted free agents on the board. General Manager Ken Holland said during his end-of-season interview that his plan right now is to take the month of May to lead the search for the next Head Coach of the LA Kings, while reflecting back on the season, what went wrong, what needs to be done going forward to improve the team. Once a coach is in place, whether that is D.J. Smith or an external candidate, that person’s philosophy and plan for how the team is to play going forward would be taken into consideration. Then, with all of that in place, he would plan to reconnect with representation for Kuzmenko and Laughton to see how things might fit going forward. Might not be a fit, might be a perfect one. Remains to be seen and things could always change. It stands to reason, however, that a coaching hunt should be the number-one priority right now and you go from there.

Beyond those players, Malott and Moverare spent the entire season with the NHL club. Malott broke into the NHL on a full-time basis this season but the Kings have players like Lee and Ward on league-minimum, one-way contracts who fill a similar role. Still, Malott was an effective player in his role and he’s a guy that everyone would be happy to keep around in that spot in the lineup. With Moverare, he only played 15 games this season as the seventh defenseman and might look for a better opportunity elsewhere if he could potentially play more NHL games with another organization. He’s a solid player who plays to his strengths, but he’s also 27 and might see a better chance to play more regularly in another organization. Also could be content to come back and maybe get that chance here, depending on how the Kings make adjustments to their blueline. Both players are great teammates who have been spoke of highly even when not playing. For Joseph, he played a limited role after the deadline, while Copley only played once in the NHL as an injury fill-in.

Beyond that group are eight free agents who spent their seasons mainly in the AHL. Kyle Burroughs made the Kings out of camp but was assigned to the Ontario Reign once the Kings got Corey Perry back from injury. Burroughs played a leading role with that team, both on and off the ice, but missed the second half of the season due to injury. Another good teammate with the Kings in 2024-25 when he was playing a seventh or eighth defenseman role, so potentially there’s a fit as an AHL veteran with NHL depth opportunities. Chromiak, Jamsen and Pinelli are all drafted players who have taken steps forward at the AHL level. Chromiak had a great season with the Reign as he led the team in goals and points. Depending on the role, he’s worked his way into the next-man up mix in terms of callups. Think he’d be re-signed with a chance to potentially impress in camp or if there is an injury higher in the lineup. Pinelli has improved every season and had AHL career bests in assists and points. He played regularly in the top-nine with Ontario and he’s still young, at 23. He was a second-round pick in 2021 and has made progress. Jamsen’s sophomore season was also much improved, as he worked past a couple of injury setbacks. Wouldn’t be surprised to see all three players earn another contract with the Kings as restricted free agents.

Beyond that are Alexandrov, Brown, Gawdin and Jenik, who were all AHL veterans. Gawdin was really good over his two years in Ontario, while Alexandrov had good offensive numbers after he was acquired midseason from St. Louis. Brown missed a large chunk of the season due to injury and Jenik missed the end of the season with an injury of his own, after he was acquired from Ottawa in March. The Reign need older players like that to help support their prospects and that would likely be the role that you’d see for those four guys, if there is a mutual interest. Each of these four players are in full control as unrestricted free agents, so it likely depends on opportunities and options around the league.

In terms of salary-cap space, the Kings have $17,707,000 available when factoring in the players that I have listed above. They do have three big holes in their lineup, needing two centers and Clarke’s new contract, before you factor in upgrades. To truly get to where the Kings may want to, they’ll either need to see improvements from younger players on entry-level contracts or they’ll need outgoings to support incomings. Think there could be a bit of both in there.

That’s more of the nuts and bolts of it all. The Kings have to make some decisions regarding the makeup of their team heading into the 2026-27 season. For the most part, in my opinion, the biggest of those decisions do not really concern the players listed above. They need centers. The defense needs assessing. Unknowns in goal. Lots of things to analyze and I’ll draft up what I feel are the most pressing storylines for the Kings entering the offseason here over the next couple of days.