The Los Angeles Kings didn’t just strike out on the first day of NHL free agency—they swung wildly in the wrong direction.
According to The Athletic’s Shayna Goldman, no team fumbled the early free agent window worse than the Kings. With expectations high after another first-round playoff flameout, Los Angeles responded not with bold reinforcements but with questionable, short-sighted signings on defense. The additions of Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin left analysts and fans scratching their heads, wondering how this team plans to get past Connor McDavid and the Oilers when it just got older, slower, and less mobile on the blue line.
The Ceci-Dumoulin Dilemma
The numbers speak for themselves—and they aren’t kind. Cody Ceci, signed for four years at a $4.5 million AAV, was a liability in high-leverage situations for Edmonton and Dallas. He’s handled tough minutes, but his underlying metrics confirm he fits only in a depth role at this stage of his career. That didn’t stop the Kings from paying him like a top-four option.
Brian Dumoulin’s three-year, $4 million AAV deal is no better. At 32, Dumoulin has long since aged out of top-pairing duties. He fits best in sheltered third-pair minutes, but Los Angeles looks ready to elevate him beyond that role. The gamble? That a team already struggling to defend against elite pace just added two defenders who consistently get exposed by it.
It’s a puzzling strategy from a team knocked out by the Oilers in three straight postseasons, each time exposed by speed, skill, and offensive dynamism.
Welcome to the Ken Holland Era
The team aimed to start a new chapter this offseason, but instead, they delivered déjà vu for fans familiar with Ken Holland’s work in Edmonton. The Ceci deal reeks of the same misjudgment that plagued the Oilers’ blue line during his tenure. It’s a classic overvaluation of “tough minutes” without proper regard for efficiency or fit in the modern NHL.
Now, the Kings have built a defensive core featuring Ceci, Dumoulin, and Joel Edmundson—all one-dimensional, limited defenders. They will be playing significant roles behind aging star Drew Doughty and steady Mikey Anderson. The Athletic bluntly summarized the result: “It doesn’t make any sense to get older and slower after getting burned by the Oilers’ pace and scoring in each of the last four years.”
What Direction Is This Team Headed?
After the promising extension of Andrei Kuzmenko, there was some optimism that Los Angeles would use the offseason to shift its identity and play style. Instead, management seems to have doubled down on a brand of hockey that hasn’t worked for them. These moves arguably won’t work in today’s league.
The Kings didn’t just overpay Ceci and Dumoulin—they sacrificed valuable opportunities in the process. Los Angeles entered free agency with cap space and a clear mandate to upgrade. Instead, they locked themselves into multiple years of questionable value, with no obvious path to beating the conference’s elite teams.
Bottom Line
The Kings didn’t need to chase big names to win Day 1 of free agency. But they did need to be smarter than this.
As the league accelerates every year, Los Angeles slams the brakes—and other teams might be lapping them already.
LA Kings Called ‘Biggest Losers’ of NHL Free Agency’s First Day