Why haven’t the Los Angeles Kings re-signed Adrian Kempe yet? they have to finish it
sports network: Dennis Bernstein talks with Mike Futa and Matt Marchese on The Fan Hockey Show about Adrian Kempe and why he hasn’t re-signed with the Los Angeles Kings yet.
Futa: “Dennis, how important is this, how close are they to finishing Kempe?”
Bernstein: “They’re not even close. Now, here’s the thing. The market turned to the Kings. They could have bought it for $10 million in the summer, but they paid less than $9.”
Buffalo Sabers playoff drought could extend after another slow start to season
And then, you know, guys like Luke Hughes and Jackson got nine. So, of course, for Kyle Connor, Connor is a different story. The same cannot be said for (Kirill) Kaprizov. It could cost them $11.5 million, but they’re not there yet.
But here’s the thing, Mike, they have to bring this guy back. Two years ago, they lost Matt Roy. Last year, losing (Vladislav) Gavrikov. You can’t keep players away, especially this one. This player could be the captain, the next captain of the Kings. He wants to stay. I spoke with him in Vegas when we were on a press tour with him. He will be signed for eight years. Players want to stay. Holland must pay him. It’s that simple. This is the market now. The market turned on him. Unfortunately for them, he wants to hold his ground, but now they have to pay him. “
Futa: “I think there were a few teams that we said, and Los Angeles was one of them, that this guy was a homegrown talent and he evolved into something. One of the things we were worried about when we drafted him was his natural ability to score goals.”
Marchese: “I think he figured that out.”
Futa: “No, but he was never a big offensive producer.”
Bernstein: “Yeah, he’s not.”
Futa: “Every goal he scores is like, you think, how do you shoot like that and become a 10 or 15 goal scorer? Now, he has confidence. He has 200 ft. game. He loves it there. He’s like, they call him ‘Juice’ for a reason. And, I mean, with (Anze Kopitar) moving forward, that’s the guy that’s basically got to put him in the position to be, like, the core of this team.
I, I can’t believe he’s not, you just don’t look at what happened with Connor and say, well, if he’s a little bit worse than Connor, then you’re right. You enter and complete the mission at 11:11 11:11:11 11:11:11 11:11:11:11:5. So there won’t be any of those things stressing the kids out throughout the season. “
NHL Rumors: It’s not time to panic about Alex Tuch yet
Marchese: “What I don’t understand is, like what this deal is supposed to be like for me, it’s supposed to be an easy thing for L.A. to do. They really don’t have anybody coming up and you’re like, okay, we’ve got to be ready for this big extension.”
Bernstein: “Yeah. Yeah.”
Marchese: “That’s the part that confuses me the most, is I look at players and say, ‘Perfect fit.'” He’s aggressive, he’s talented offensively, and he takes responsibility for his performance. Like, these are the people you want to keep, but you’re happy to pay to keep them. Like, why don’t they want to hit the $10 million mark, Dennis? Like, this is the part I don’t understand. “
Bernstein: “I don’t know. I don’t know, and I’m sure it’s going to upset players. I talked to him about when are you going to sign, and he said, ‘Listen, I got that immediate deadline and I didn’t sign. That’s a big deal.’ Like he said at Christmas, maybe Thanksgiving.
NHL Rumors: Negotiations paused between Los Angeles Kings and Adrian Kempe
But the thing is, Matt, there’s no replacement player. See what they say about their lead pool. No such player comes. They draft, you know, they get drafted players, and that’s a job done by guys like Alex Laferrier, right? This is the model they drafted. They don’t have anyone who can replace the 35 goals this team has scored.
So I don’t know why it took so long, but, you know, sometimes a phone call makes a difference. But they have to get it done. I would be shocked if he wasn’t the King of Los Angeles because that would be a big miss because he wants to play ball. He deserves it. He performed. He is dangerous. You know, the last person the Edmonton Oilers want to see again in the playoffs, despite their four-game winning streak, is Adrian Kempe. He’s a playoff killer. This is pretty shocking considering what other similar businesses are currently on the market. “
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? A roundup of rumors and trending topics from around the league. We also post some content on Instagram.
