Ryan S. Clark
In their bid to get beyond the first round and possibly further, the Los Angeles Kings signed five free agents Tuesday in a haul that was headlined by former Hart Trophy winner Corey Perry.
Perry signed a one-year contract worth $2.5 million in a class that saw the Kings also sign forward Joel Armia (two years, $2.5 million AAV), defenseman Cody Ceci (two years, $4.5 million AAV), defenseman Brian Dumoulin ($4 million AAV) and goaltender Anton Forsberg (two years, $2.25 million.)
Getting eliminated in the first round for a fourth consecutive postseason to the Edmonton Oilers led to changes in the Kings’ front office with the club moving on from Hall of Fame defenseman Rob Blake.
They would then hire Ken Holland, who was inducted into the Hall as a builder after constructing a dynasty with the Detroit Red Wings that saw them win three Stanley Cups, five Western Conference titles, three Presidents’ Trophies and 10 Central Division titles.
Holland sat out the 2024-25 season after his contract with the Oilers was not renewed. In Holland’s final season as GM of the Oilers, the club reached the Stanley Cup final where they lost to the Florida Panthers in seven games.
Hiring Holland came with the belief he would strengthen the Kings’ roster and help the franchise get out of the first round for the first time since the 2014-15 season.
Entering late June, the Kings were rumored with practically every marquee pending unrestricted free agent top-six forward with the belief they could still have the remaining salary cap space to re-sign pending UFA defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.
Many of those forwards had already re-signed or were traded elsewhere with Gavrikov opting to sign with the New York Rangers.
That prompted Holland and his front office staff to add in bulk by signing Perry, who played most of his career with the rival Anaheim Ducks, and Armia to strengthen a bottom-six forward group with the intent they could both slide into a middle-six role.
Perry, who turned 40 in May, scored 19 goals and 30 points to help the Oilers reach a consecutive Cup final where they lost to the Panthers. Perry scored 10 goals and set a record for the most postseason goals by a player in his age-39 season, a mark previously held by Jean Beliveau.
Armia gives the Kings another veteran who has reached double figures six times in his career, including last season when he had 11 goals and 29 points for the Montreal Canadiens.
Ceci, who was also in Edmonton during Holland’s time in charge, started last season with the San Jose Sharks before he was traded to the Dallas Stars and helped them reach a third straight conference final. He finished with four goals and 24 points in 85 games while averaging 21:12 in ice time.
Dumoulin, who won two titles with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017, also began the year with the Ducks before he was traded to the New Jersey Devils. He finished the season with three goals and 22 points in 80 games while Forsberg won 11 games with a .901 save percentage as a backup to Linus Ullmark with the Ottawa Senators.
Ceci and Dumoulin add to a top-six group that already had Mikey Anderson, 2016 Norris Trophy winner Drew Doughty, Brandt Clarke, and Joel Edmundson whereas Forsberg will work in tandem with Darcy Kuemper, who won the Stanley Cup in 2022 with the Colorado Avalanche.
