When the Los Angeles Kings went to work on Day 1 of free agency a couple of weeks ago, Ken Holland wasn’t chasing the loudest headlines. He was filling holes, leaning on proven veterans, and keeping the books flexible for what comes next.
That approach matters just as much as the names the Kings did bring in. In a market where the biggest-ticket free agents can eat up space fast, sometimes the smartest move is knowing when to walk away. That’s the case with a few players who were available this summer but never really fit what Los Angeles needed.
One of the clearest examples is Rasmus Andersson. A lot of media voices pegged the Vegas Golden Knights defenseman as the top blue-line free agent on the market, and the Kings had been tied to him in trade chatter over the past couple of years. Those rumors, though, had cooled off over the last 8-10 months.
And even if Andersson is a strong defenseman, the fit just wasn’t there for Los Angeles this offseason. The projected price tag - a long-term deal with an $8.5 million average annual value - would have been a heavy commitment for a team trying to stay nimble. Instead, the Kings locked up young defenseman Brandt Clarke on a far more manageable extension and kept the flexibility to look elsewhere on the trade market down the road.
That kind of restraint may end up being just as important as any veteran addition the Kings made. Not every big-name free agent was the right match for this roster, and Holland’s decision to avoid the wrong ones could pay off in the long run.
In Other News...
Kings Report Card Shows Sammy Helenius Is Becoming Part Of The Plan
Sammy Helenius first full push into the Kings lineup gave the club a clearer picture of what it has in the young center. In 2025-26, he played a career-high 53 games and settled in as a dependable fourth-line option, bringing the kind of physical edge and defensive steadiness that coaches tend to trust when the games tighten up.
There is still room for his game to grow, especially in the faceoff circle and on the offensive side, but the bigger takeaway is that he has moved from depth piece to part of the plan. The Kings rewarded that progress with a two-year extension, and all signs point to Helenius opening 2026-27 right where he finished last season, anchoring the fourth line and trying to add a little more to his role. [Read more 🡒]
Former Kings Forward Just Took A Step Fans Saw Coming
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Now he has a longer runway to do that elsewhere, with Anaheim bringing him in on a three-year contract at the start of free agency. For the Kings, it is another reminder of how quickly the bottom of the roster can shift, especially for players whose value lives in the margins, and Malotts next opportunity looks set to come in a role built around those same traits rather than any big offensive expectations. [Read more 🡒]
Quinton Byfield Is Running Out Of Time To Silence Kings Doubts
Quinton Byfield has spent the last few seasons giving the Kings enough to believe in, but not quite enough to quiet the questions that always seem to follow a player with his talent. Since signing his five-year extension in July 2024, he has kept moving forward, and the organization continues to treat him as a centerpiece for what comes next. The growth is real, but so is the expectation that he start turning promise into something more dependable.
For Los Angeles, the next step is less about flashes than about consistency, production and a bigger presence when the games tighten. Byfield has already shown he can score and handle a larger workload, and the challenge now is pushing that baseline higher while taking on more responsibility as a leader. The Kings do not need him to be perfect, but they do need him to start looking like the player who can carry a franchise into its next era. [Read more 🡒]