Los Angeles Kings NHL Trade Rumors: Kings Reportedly Shopping Marián Gaborik
Teams gearing up for a playoff run will always look for an opportunity to add key pieces near the trade deadline, but some teams just don't have much room to maneuver due to their salary cap situation. The Los Angeles Kings are a perfect example of a team with salary cap issues thanks to all the players under long-term contracts and they will have to figure out how to shed salary.
Well, they may have found a solution to their problems and it involves placing veteran winger Marián Gaborik on the trading block. According to John Hoven of Mayor's Manor, the Kings have been trying to move Gaborik for some time now. The Fourth Period also confirmed the team was indeed shopping him around the league.
The Kings were reportedly interested in Martin Hanzal, Patrick Eaves and Brian Boyle before they got traded, and the team's still keeping an eye on Thomas Vanek and Patrick Sharp.
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Trading Gaborik isn't going to be easy. His production is declining at a rapid pace and he has four years left on his contract at a $4.875 million cap hit.
According to FanSided's Dave Stevenson, the Arizona Coyotes, the Carolina Hurricanes and the New Jersey Devils might give him a look since they have the cap space to acquire him. However, he also admitted that trading Gaborik was going to be difficult.
"Trading Gaborik is obviously going to be very hard to do. He has a lot of term left and he's not living up to his deal. Injuries have hampered him a bit, but even when healthy, Gaborik hasn't been producing much. Over the past two seasons, he's played in 92 games. Gaborik has a mere 35 points and 18 goals during that span," Stevenson said in his report.
If the Kings fail to unload him before the trade deadline, they can always do it in the offseason. It's not like they are in a hurry to move him right now.
