The free agency season has calmed down, and in all honesty, it was underwhelming.
Apart from a few high-profile moves, such as the much-anticipated Mitch Marner exit from the Toronto Maple Leafs to join the ranks of the Vegas Golden Knights, the Carolina Hurricanes welcoming Nikolaj Ehlers, and J.J. Peterka’s move from the Buffalo Sabres to the Utah Mammoth, the free agency offered little to get the fans’ adrenaline going.
During free agency, all eyes are on the General Managers of every team in the league; the pressure on them is immense. Fans and insiders scrutinize every step the GMs take.
Despite the relatively calm free agency season, the insiders kept their analyses coming. According to Shayna Goldman of “The Athletic,” Los Angeles Kings’ Ken Holland has made certain questionable moves this offseason.
Insider Expresses Candid Opinion About Kings GM Ken Holland’s Offseason Strategy
The Kings finished second in the Western Conference Pacific Division with 48 wins and 25 losses. They successfully made the playoffs for the fourth consecutive season but failed to progress, being defeated by the Edmonton Oilers in Game 6 of the Western Conference first round.
“We should be proud of this one, LA’s a great team. Not easy to beat a team four years straight.”
For the fourth consecutive year, the #Oilers have defeated the LA Kings & advanced to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. @paigymartin has your @Scotiabank Perks summary. pic.twitter.com/UPP4Ze39Dt
— Edmonton Oilers (@EdmontonOilers) May 2, 2025
Goldman noted that the repeated playoff failures might have prompted the Los Angeles front office to change its approach. The management injected some young energy into its “aging core.”
“First, Adrian Kempe and Mikey Anderson emerged as key players,” Goldman said. “Then the next wave came, with Alex Laferriere and Quinton Byfield breaking out. And now Brandt Clarke, Alex Turcotte, and Akil Thomas look poised to play more meaningful roles.”
With Holland at the helm, the Kings seem to have taken a completely different approach this offseason.
“The Kings opted to get older and slower this summer,” Goldman said. “That is especially glaring on defense, with Cody Ceci and Brian Dumoulin replacing Spence and Vladislav Gavrikov.”
Jordan Spence and Vladislav Gavrikov were traded to the Ottawa Senators and the New York Rangers, respectively.
Many in the NHL community believed the Cody Ceci signing was a bad move. The defenseman has 235 points in 871 regular-season games and 22 points in 106 playoff games. At 31, Ceci is past his prime, raising further questions about his suitability and Holland’s judgement.
Similarly, regarding defensive moves, as the Oilers’ GM, Holland’s decision to trade for the Chicago Blackhawks’ Duncan Keith in 2021 was not seen as the wisest move.
Once a famed player and a Conn Smythe Trophy winner, Keith was past his prime, and his performance had declined rapidly by the time the trade happened. Hence, while Holland received applause for the Zach Hyman acquisition, the Keith trade was fiercely debated.
It remains to be seen if Holland’s approach enables the Kings to make a deep run in the playoffs, but for now, it has triggered considerable discourse in the community.
