Yikes man, this probably makes Verbeek not a answer any phone calls from Montreal for a while

well, not like there's been any real improvement on defence, still a bottom-feeding team, so not exactly sure what value Klingberg has not playing good.

Cant see EDM parting with anything much more than what the Habs offer in this trade. Especially since they're a real contender.

Montreal isn't making the playoffs, So there's no way Klingberg is getting traded there or would waive to go there.

Humour me. Wheres he going then? just gonna suck all year on a lottery team that has young dmen coming up that theyll be giving his top 4 minutes to? you really think hes resigning there? what contending team would trade for him? Do you realize he has 7 mil cap hit? what team can afford that? You think verbeek is gonna trade him for scraps of a contending team, that they can build nothing with? im genuinely curious. what do you think?

He'll be traded to a legit contender for $3,500,000 1/2 retained. Not to the likes of Montreal who's still going to be at the bottom of the pile once the season is over.

He literally signed a contract with a rebuilding team. Your logic makes zero sense.

You are a wings fan so i can't say im surprised.

He signed with the only team willing to pay him that much. ANA signed him to a 1 year deal with full intention of trading him at TDL for assets to add to their rebuild. Unless MTL wants to pay more than EDM for him so they can try to resign him before FA this makes no sense. Just pay EDM a low pick after the playoffs.

** I use EDM as an example because I think that’s the landing spot** @OP

No, HockeyIsMyPassion makes total sense. Obviously JK didn't get the long term contract he wanted, so he took a 7m one year deal hoping to impress. Ducks signed him, thinking they can get something at TDL.

That doesn't matter - my point is that if all Klinger cares about is a salary, he doesn't care where he plays.

Oh ya, I’m sure that’s the case. But it doesn’t make sense for MTL to pay for a rental when they could pay for his rights and let him get playoff experience in.

I don't think you realize that JK doesn't have a 7m cap hit to his new team he traded to. If he traded to a team half way through the season his cap his 3.5m to the Ducks and his new team. If the Ducks retained half the Ducks have his 5.2m cap hit and his new team 1.8m cap hit.
If the Ducks are out of the playoffs, Verbeek will likely try to trade this JK upcoming UFA. What the return is, who knows, but if scraps are the best offer, maybe that's the only trade choice Verbeek has.

Absolutely. We agree there.

-Dadonov needs to, y'know, score a point before you can shop him as a "scoring winger" to the Rangers. Rags pass on this one unless Dad discovers how to put the puck in the net again - I'd rather have a 24 year old not scoring for $875K a year than a 33 year old not scoring making $2.5M.

-Drouin has 2 points in 8 games; Hoffman has 2 points in 9. I can squint and see a market for Drouin if he picks up his play - he's in his walk year and can be retained down to $2.75M, which should get back a mid/late round pick. But Hoffman is a goal scorer who has forgotten how to score goals, and is overpaid even with the retention - not to mention that the Kings literally have more NHL-ready forwards than roster spots available, so swapping them two more while asking them to send a useful player and pick back is one of the easier "no"s they'll have this season.

-Klingberg signed a deal with a full NTC through January 1st and then a 10-team NTC after that - I'm assuming so he can look at the playoff picture and have some control over his destination. If Montreal stays outside of the playoff picture, I wouldn't expect them to be a destination he approves a deal to.

As far as his cap hit - Anaheim clearly has the cap space to retain his AAV down to $3.5M and a team looking to acquire him probably only has to throw a mid-round asset at a 3rd squad to get the double retention down to $1.75M. Most contenders should be able to find the room for him, even if it increases his cost slightly, and most contenders will offer a better package of futures than a deal "headlined" by David Savard.

Cap dumping 101

The Kings have better options than any of those guys on the team already.

Even if they wanted to do this trade for some crazy reason, they can't afford the cap hit.

I think Drury may consider that if the draft picks were higher rounds, maybe a 2nd and 3rd round.

Edmonton has been top of the rumors for quite some time, even when they tried to get Montreal to sign him and then immediately retain in a trade to them, however that was cap circumvention that they would have gotten busted for. Ducks hanging onto him for a bit and playing him clears us by the league.

I think the dark horse to get him is Ottowa. Now that Talbot is back, if they can start stringing some wins together, I think they have an opportunity to do something. Especially if they send Zaitsev back the other way, they also have cap space to resign Klingberg. When I look at their roster, I see them missing a true powerplay QB. And nothing raises the asking price for a team that is for sale like playoff success. While Karlsson is still out there, and available from the sharks, I don't think they want to sink the cap space back into their former Captain when they can potentially sign JK for ~7 mil AAV.

While Savard would be nice to protect Gibson, him plus an undersized forward, an undrafted tweener, and a 5th don't get Klingberg, nor would he waive to go to Montreal.