Ryan Smyth Traded: What's Next for Los Angeles Kings?

Sending Ryan Smyth back to Edmonton in exchange for Colin Fraser is a move that was supposedly made to bring Smyth closer to his family.

If such is true, good on both teams for making this happen for one of the classiest players the NHL has had over the last decade-and-a-half.

Aside from all of the personal matters, this trade is an obvious salary dump for the Kings.

Smyth, at $6.25 million, was the second-highest paid Los Angeles player behind superstar sniper Anze Kopitar and is now the richest Oiler.

In exchange, the Kings received Colin Fraser and his paltry $825,000 contract as well as a seventh round pick in the 2012 draft.

Now off the hook for Smyth’s salary, the Kings have $16 million in cap space to spend on improving their team.

First on Kings GM Dean Lombardi’s to-do list has to be re-signing 21-year-old defenceman Drew Doughty.

Quite simply, Doughty is a stud. Sure, he may be prone to defensive lapses at times, getting a little over-eager about offensive opportunities, but those who doubt him mustn’t forget that he is still young, especially for a top-tier defenceman in the NHL.

His potential for greatness far outweighs any worry of career implosion at this point.

The fact that he played—and played well, I might add—for Team Canada’s gold medal squad in the 2010 Olympics as a 20-year-old is an indicator that he legitimately has what it takes to dominate in this league.

Vancouver Canucks defenceman Kevin Bieksa was just awarded a five-year deal worth $4.6 million per season to stay with the team, and Tampa Bay Lighting blueliner Eric Brewer resigned for four years at $3.85 million per season.

Mix those deals with some already in place, such as Duncan Keith’s 13-year, $72 million dollar deal with Chicago ($5.54/year cap hit) or Dion Phaneuf’s six-year, $39 million agreement with the Maple Leafs ($6.5 million/year cap hit), and Doughty should be somewhere in between.

A five year, $28.5 million covenant seems appropriate for Doughty. That’s $5.7 million on the cap each year.

But with other top defenders such as Nashville’s Shea Weber and Winnipeg’s Zach Bogosian also RFA’s this year, you can expect a little bit of a waiting game to unfold, with each player waiting to see the structure of the contracts signed by their counterparts and ultimately driving their collective values higher.

The next step for the Kings is to look after some of their young talent who are coming out of entry-level contracts.

Oscar Moller, Trevor Lewis, Brad Richardson and Marc-Andre Cliche are some notables among a group of restricted free agents to whom the Kings have already extended qualifying offers.

By proposing a bid to these youngsters, L.A. preserves negotiating rights with the players and prevents them from becoming unrestricted and readily available to other NHL general managers.

Lastly, the Kings will look to add new players to their already strong roster.

Brook Laich, who has spent most of his NHL career with the Washington Capitals, would be a great addition to the Kings and would be a fine replacement for the recently departed Smyth.

Laich is a gritty leadership guy who knows how to use his big body in to screen a goaltender and has the hands to slap home rebounds. Prior to last season, the 28-year-old Laich had three consecutive 20-plus goal years.

Similar to another new King, Mike Richards, Laich comes from a successful club in Washington and could be a great piece in building a strong and united hockey club with that “winning attitude” that Lombardi is trying to establish.

Coming out of a three-year, $6.2 million deal with the Caps, it likely wouldn’t take anything too much more than that for the Kings to nab Laich. He’s a ballpark $3 million guy.

Oft-injured and aging forward Simon Gagne would be an interesting fit with the Kings, considering his established chemistry with Richards. He would need to take a pay-cut, though, as $5.25 million is too much to pay for him at this point in his career.

Another former Flyer, Scottie Upshall, could be a great bottom-six forward for the Kings. Coming out of stints on Columbus and Phoenix, Upshall has played on some bad teams, but is another character guy and could perform well if put in the right situation.

A standout in the WHL, Upshall, 27, captained Canada’s world junior team in 2003—just one year after current King Jarret Stoll-- and is a guy who could realistically add 15-20 goals and 40 points to your line-up and would come relatively economical, around $2-2.5 million annually.