What is the Kings’ next move after trading Phillip Danault?

The Los Angeles Kings got ahead of the holiday roster freeze when they dealt veteran center Phillip Danault to the Montreal Canadiens for a second-round selection in the 2026 NHL Draft.

The move sent Danault back to his former team, as the Kings moved on from a defensive maestro who had been mightily struggling to provide much of any value on offense, as Danault has just five points without scoring a goal this season.

Usually, teams in the Kings’ position do not sell off players for future value without having something in mind to add talent back to the roster. Los Angeles is 16-12-9 and holds a wild card spot, and they’ll surely look to make an addition to position them better for the playoffs.

On Monday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, host Tyler Yaremchuk and co-host and former NHL goaltender Carter Hutton were joined by NHL insider David Pagnotta to discuss what the Kings could be doing next as general manager Ken Holland looks to put his stamp on the roster.

Tyler Yaremchuk: Now that LA traded Danault, what’s their next move?

David Pagnotta: Well, they’ve been looking for a scorer for a while. I think either guy [Alex Tuch or Artemi Panarin] would be on their radar, I think Tuch maybe more. I think Tuch would be ahead of Panarin in terms of any team’s wish list, just simply because… a lot of teams are going to want an extension tied to these guys, or at least have an understanding that they’ve got a shot at keeping them. The preference obviously is the extension, and then, yeah, there’s a higher price tied to that, and I think teams are going to be willing to pay that. I think from LA specifically, I think Tuch would be ahead of Panarin in this respect if they go in that direction. They’ve been looking for a scorer for a while.

You can watch the full segment and the rest of the episode here…