As the summer roster becomes clearer, qualifying offers are an important step in getting there. Not necessarily to determine salaries or contracts, but to see some decisions made in preparation for what could be considered the signing bubble.
With that in mind, the LA Kings have extended qualifying offers to the following players:
Quinton Byfield
Arthur Kaliyev
Eric Portillo
Jordan Spence
First of all, a qualifying offer is not a signed contract. It is simply a necessary trade to retain the free agency rights of players who are restricted free agents. A qualifying offer is actually just that – an offer. The qualifying offer can be signed by a player to become a contract or the parties can negotiate. Or not. Often, the qualifying offer is just a formality to retain the rights of a restricted free agent. In some cases, it makes sense for the player to accept it, but it is not always what is best.
Among the qualified players, there are no surprises in this group.
For Byfield and Spence, they are obviously considered NHL players. They spent the 2023-24 season with the Kings and are obviously NHL players. Byfield will be the biggest contract the Kings offer this summer among their restricted free agents and Spence is now an NHL player who will get at least a small raise on his entry-level contract. Either player is unlikely to sign their qualifying offer and the Kings will continue to negotiate with each of them respectively. For reference, Byfield’s qualifying offer would be a one-year, one-way contract with an AAV of $874,125. He obviously doesn’t sign this contract and both sides will find a more lucrative and longer team deal.
As for Kaliyev, there is obviously a lot of talk about his future. Regardless of his fate, the Kings needed to make him a qualifying offer to retain his rights. If the Kings and Kaliyev were to work something out together, the qualifying offer was necessary. If a move was to be formalized regarding a potential trade, the qualifying offer would also be necessary. It seems unlikely that Kaliyev will sign the qualifying offer as presented, but submitting it is a necessary step moving forward.
Portillo feels like the only player likely to sign the qualifying offer presented to him. Portillo’s offer is a one-year, two-way contract with an AAV of $826,875. For a player with one professional season, played exclusively in the AHL, the qualifying offer could make sense. It’s possible the Kings and Portillo could look to negotiate a deal that’s structured differently or has a term longer than one year. He expects Portillo to play this season in the AHL with Ontario, of course, but he is highly valued by the Kings in the long term. They see him as an NHL prospect for the future, but with an eye toward 2025 or 2026. Perhaps that could lead to a multi-year deal. It remains to be seen how these negotiations will unfold.
Today’s announcement means the Kings have not extended qualifying offers to the following three players:
Jacob Ingham
Blake Lizotte
Tyler Madden
For Lizotte, it’s a tough call. I think the Kings like Lizotte and like what he brings. It’s possible the two sides could work out a separate deal that would keep him on the team, similar to what happened with forward Jaret Anderson-Dolan last season. The Kings didn’t elect Anderson-Dolan, but re-signed him as an unrestricted free agent with a below-NHL AAV just before free agency opened on July 1.
Lizotte is a solid fourth-line center. He’s a man of culture and character and you always know you’re getting 100 percent of what Lizotte has to offer. You want guys like that, but sometimes it’s also a matter of dollars and cents. Are the Kings in a position to make Lizotte a qualifying offer at $1,675,000, which is what he’s owed? Frankly, he may have even exceeded that number, but if you’re looking at paying $1.5 million to $2.0 million for a fourth-line center, that’s money the Kings can’t allocate elsewhere. For a team that still needs to add players elsewhere in the lineup, that might not be feasible. I wouldn’t be shocked if Lizotte came back. If he doesn’t, I personally wish him the best. Character is a word you see but don’t always fully understand. Lizotte has every bit of this word in her DNA.
As for Ingham and Madden, both players spent the 2023-24 season playing in the minor leagues, with Madden in Ontario and Ingham playing most of his hockey with ECHL-Greenville. Madden will turn 25 in November. He’s been a solid member of the Reign and mostly plays in the Top 6. He hasn’t really made the jump yet, though, aside from one or two call-ups that didn’t result in his NHL debut. I wouldn’t have been surprised if the Kings had qualified Madden because he plays hard and has been a consistent 15-20 goal player in the AHL. This maybe gives him a better opportunity elsewhere and I hope he takes it.
For Ingham, it’s an interesting case. Ingham started this season on an AHL contract but was given an NHL contract midway through the season, allowing him to retain his NHL rights with the Kings heading into this summer. Ingham missed all of 2022-23 due to injury but returned with an impressive 2023-24 campaign. Ingham was good in Greenville with a 17-10-4 record, a .916 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average. He’s in a bit of a tough spot with the Kings, though. The NHL tandem of Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich is where I imagine the Kings want to pair a veteran with Portillo in Ontario. Ingham deserves a longer shot in the AHL, to build on six solid games in 2023-24, but that would likely require the Kings to skip the veteran and go with a younger Portillo/Ingham pairing. There’s a risk that could happen if there’s an injury at the NHL level. Or, it would force Ingham to start in the ECHL and wait for an opportunity. He’s probably earned a little more than that, but we’ll see how his situation plays out. He could always come back later, like he did last season.
Free agency begins tomorrow at 9 a.m. PT for the Kings. Based on the contracts we know and the information we have, here’s an approximation of what the Kings are working with.
The Kings have about $17.5 million to work with in free agency. That amount is in place to sign Byfield and Spence, as well as round out the rest of their NHL roster. The Kings have publicly stated that they expect to see Brandt Clarke on the NHL roster this season, as well as forwards Alex Turcotte and Akil Thomas, and possibly Samuel Fagemo. Whether that’s true or not, the Kings would likely have cap hitters at those positions. So for budget purposes, all four are on the roster for now and we’ll go from there.
