Los Angeles Kings: Three players who could be lost to an expansion draft
By Ryan Sikes
Jeff Carter
Acquired in February 2012, Jeff Carter helped the Kings to get over the hump en route to winning their first Stanley Cup title in 2012. The former 11th overall pick of the Flyers in 2003 accumulated 181 goals with 162 assists and a +51 rating in six seasons in Philadelphia.
The Flyers were where the Kings are now in 2011, trading Carter to the Blue Jackets before the 2011-2012 season, where he would spend approximately half a year there before being traded to LA. Carter scored six goals with three assists in 16 games after being acquired, and he was instrumental throughout the playoffs.
He led the team with eight goals – including four power plays and three game-winners – to go along with five assists. In Game 6, Carter scored the Cup-winning goal on a five-minute power play.
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Again in 2014, Carter tallied ten goals with 15 assists during the postseason, including a team-leading four power-play goals. Under contract through the 2021-2022 season, Carter will make $5.3M in each of the next two seasons.
With Blake Lizotte and a healthy Gabriel Vilardi – along with the highly-anticipated debut of Alex Turcotte – the Kings should be in good shape at center behind Anze Kopitar. Carter’s 44 career game-winning goals in Los Angeles currently rank fifth-best in franchise history.