The Los Angeles Kings may have landed their cleanest offseason bargain with Mats Zuccarello, but the move that could matter most down the road might be Brandt Clarke’s extension.
That’s the split at the heart of the Kings’ summer. General manager Ken Holland made several additions and decisions, but the case for Zuccarello is easy to see: he brings a proven top-six playmaker, he’s coming off a 54-point season in 59 games, and the Kings got him without taking on major long-term salary cap risk.
The contract itself is the kind of low-stakes swing teams love to make. Los Angeles signed Zuccarello to a one-year deal worth $1 million in base value, with plenty of incentives attached.
If it works, the Kings get immediate help in the top six. If it doesn’t, they can move on without being tied to the deal in future seasons.
That’s why the move stands out as a savvy one. Even with the obvious note that Zuccarello makes the roster older, the downside is limited. For a team looking to patch a top-six need on the fly, that matters.
Still, the longer view points somewhere else. Clarke’s five-year extension, worth around $7.4 million in average annual value, could end up carrying more weight for the franchise’s future. It locks in one of Los Angeles’ key young pieces at a time when the organization is moving beyond the Anze Kopitar/Drew Doughty era.
Clarke offers the Kings something different from Zuccarello: not just immediate help, but a possible cornerstone on the blue line. The upside is real, and it comes with offensive production that could make him part of the team’s core for much of the next decade.
That’s the tradeoff between the two moves. Zuccarello is the safer bet in the short term, a value signing with little to lose. Clarke is the bigger commitment, and therefore the one with more risk, but also the one with the greater chance to shape what comes next in Los Angeles.
So if the question is which move was the smartest, Zuccarello has a strong case. If the question is which one could define the Kings’ future, Clarke may be the answer.
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