I'm not sure what they do, they've become stagnant

no star talent.
They rushed themselves into mediocrity.
In 2020 they had it right finishing toward the bottom. They should have stayed there and built up.
But I guess not everyone can be on the bottom.

Let me ask you this…should they consider trading Kempe for some younger players/prospects/picks? Possibly Danault? Gavirkov?

I think they committed to exactly the wrong kinds of players to carry them forward by locking up Dubois and Fiala. I think they can still have a competitive team mid-to-long term so long as:

1.) Byfield emerges as a C and can take over the 1st line with Kempe
2.) Clarke develops well enough to ease the load on Doughty
3.) Moore-Danault continues to be effective as a line
4.) They change their team identity to allow for more offense
5.) Portillo emerges as a capable starter for them even in a more open system

I think it would have to be a lucky UFA or trade acquisition that would help push them through to the next level, though.

At this point they would have to trade so many guys to make them a bottom 5 team and I doubt the league would be happy with them intentionally tanking.
You got so many bad teams right now, and on top of it you got teams that are crashing down to reality in NYI, WSH, PIT.
You aren't going to get worse than those teams crashing in the next 1-2 years.
They just have to play it out stuck in the middle for a while and hope for the best. Too good to not finish bottom 5 and not good enough to really compete for a cup.
But you never know maybe they get lucky in the draft. It is what it is. That's what happens when you rush a rebuild. But I'm sure it didn't help that ANA and SJS both crashed down at the same time.
I'm sure the league didn't want all 3 of those teams sitting on the bottom.

All I know is it's a rough world in the west right now, you got McDavid, MacKinnon, Petterson, and a VGK team that constantly manipulates the cap to give them really good players all over but no real franchise guy.
That's a tough place to be. Hard to win against that.

1. Buyout PLD before he turns 26 is priority number one (I'm assuming nobody is a taker for him as part of a trade). Saves nearly 7mil on the cap next season.

2. Figure out if Roy is part of the answer, or decide to give Clarke 2RD.

3. Depending on how parts 1 and 2 go, pay a goalie an appropriate amount of money and let Portillo start getting NHL games (25-30).

4. Let Lizotte and Arvy walk, unless the latter decides to take a league-minimum bonus-laden contract. Let Turcotte actually play goddamn minutes in the NHL.

5. Find a 4C and 3RD with size.

I agree with ya…def a very tough conference to be in right now. **** ton of talented teams out there and then you have Vegas doing what they do, I’ll leave it at that w them. I watch the Kings and can see this team being one of those top teams in the West, but then there are games where I’m like, “just start rebuilding…” there’s talent on that team, no doubt. Good young talent at that, but you also have guys who just don’t fit. I’m a big Kempe fan, think he’s been one player who keeps getting better and better each year. I actually think there’s more to his game…I think he can be a 100 point player. Now I’m an East Coast guy, I don’t see many Kings games, but from what I have seen and read, the guy has all the tools. I love that he’s a physical player but also has skill to score, pass, play defense…and flys on the ice. Anyway, thanks for your comment…this is one team I’d like to see get over that hump.

Think if they put Fiala on the table, Kings would be able to get a solid return? Or is his contract/age too much? He’s not that old, but he’s past that age for teams rebuilding.