Most of the noise around NHL free agency has already died down, and with rosters mostly taking shape for the 2026-27 season, a few former Los Angeles Kings are still sitting in the unsigned pile.
That group includes a veteran goalie who can still help a team in need of depth, a steady defenseman with plenty of Pacific Division experience, and a once-promising winger whose career arc has never quite matched the draft-day hype.
Cam Talbot is the most established name of the three. The 39-year-old goalie spent one season with the Kings in 2023-24 and gave them exactly what a team wants from a veteran presence: stability.
He went 27-20-6, posted a .913 save percentage, finished with a 2.50 goals-against average, and added three shutouts. Talbot also represented Los Angeles at the 2024 NHL All-Star Game and helped the club reach the playoffs.
Even now, he still profiles as a dependable backup for a team that wants more goaltending insurance before training camp and the preseason arrive.
Ben Hutton is another familiar former King still looking for work. The Ontario native spent the 2019-20 regular season on Los Angeles’ blue line and appeared in 65 games, putting up four goals, 12 assists, and 16 points. Most of his NHL career has come in the Pacific Division, and his most recent stop was with the Vegas Golden Knights, where he served as a depth defenseman and was part of the group that won the Stanley Cup in 2023.
Arthur Kaliyev rounds out the list, and he remains the most intriguing of the three because of what once seemed possible. The Kings took him in the second round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, 33rd overall, and he spent four seasons in Los Angeles.
His best stretch came with back-to-back 25-point seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23, but injuries and inconsistency kept him from becoming the top-six forward the Kings hoped they were getting. He was waived during the 2024-25 season, claimed by the New York Rangers in January 2025, and then spent this past regular season with the Ottawa Senators on a two-way contract.
Even with the uneven track record, his offensive upside and raw talent could still make him a worthwhile low-risk option or professional tryout candidate for a team heading into the fall.
In Other News...
Artemi Panarin Just Gave Kings Fans The Validation They Wanted
Artemi Panarin arrived in Los Angeles at the trade deadline last season and wasted no time making his presence felt. In 26 games with the Kings, he piled up 27 points and kept a point-per-game pace, exactly the sort of instant production the club hoped for when it brought him in from the Rangers.
The early return has now been matched by outside recognition, with The Hockey News ranking Panarin as the best left winger in the Pacific Division heading into the 2026-27 season. For Kings fans, it is the kind of validation that goes beyond a hot stretch, underscoring how his playmaking has already become a real factor in the teams offense and a reminder that his fit in Los Angeles looks as strong as advertised. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Still Face The Same Brutal Question About Their Offense
The Kings managed to survive last seasons scoring woes well enough to reach the playoffs, but the numbers told a familiar story: this was still a team living too close to the bottom of the league in goals and power-play efficiency. For a club with postseason ambitions, that kind of production leaves little margin for error, and it kept the offense at the center of every offseason discussion.
Los Angeles is banking on a different mix for 2026-27, with Artemi Panarin and Mats Zuccarello brought in to help tilt the ice the other way and Quinton Byfield expected to keep growing into a more dangerous center. Even so, the real pressure remains on the group behind them. The Kings need more from their top six and, just as importantly, more secondary scoring if they want this to become a balanced attack instead of another season of asking the defense and goaltending to do too much. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Offseason Blue Line Search Just Ran Into A Major Twist
The Kings have spent much of the offseason trying to add a defenseman who can move the puck cleanly and help reshape the blue line, and Alexander Nikishin has emerged as a name worth watching. The Carolina Hurricanes blueliner fits the profile Los Angeles has been chasing: young, left-shot and viewed as a player who could bring some needed structure and transition game to a back end that is still looking for answers.
What makes the situation interesting is that Nikishins future in Carolina is unsettled, with contract talks still hanging over his status and his salary expectations reportedly creating some friction. A trade is not considered close, but the Kings are among the teams believed to be in the mix if the Hurricanes decide they cannot bridge the gap, which would turn a quiet offseason search into a more complicated market fast. [Read more 🡒]