{"id":127129,"date":"2025-08-07T19:33:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-07T19:33:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/127129\/"},"modified":"2025-08-07T19:33:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-07T19:33:09","slug":"a-three-year-contract-was-the-right-thing-to-do-for-both-alex-laferriere-and-the-kings-with-an-important-piece-now-locked-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/127129\/","title":{"rendered":"A three-year contract was “the right thing to do” for both Alex Laferriere and the Kings, with an important piece now locked up"},"content":{"rendered":"

During his end-of-season exit interview, Alex Laferriere made one thing pretty clear. He loves being with the Kings and as he became a restricted free agent in the summer, it was his desire to remain with the organization for the foreseeable future. <\/p>\n

\u201cI love it here and want to be here as long as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Late last week, Laferriere took the next step towards making that a reality as he signed a three-year contract extension that keeps him with the Kings organization through the end of the 2027-28 season.<\/p>\n

I said it when Laferriere first signed and I\u2019ll say it again. Three years is a win\/win term for both player and club. <\/p>\n

For the Kings, Laferriere will still be a restricted free agent at the end of his contract, which means that he won\u2019t be able to test the open market, outside of the possibility of an offer sheet. Even so, that would come with a right of first refusal and draft pick compensation if it ever got to that point. The team control is huge here, with a player the organization really likes and wants to keep around, just as much as he has said he wants to be here himself. I think the term was important on that front from the team\u2019s perspective, with the three years also keeping the cap hit to a manageable number right now of $4.1 million.<\/p>\n

For Laferriere, he earns a sizable raise on his entry-level contract and his salary is more in line with what the going rate is for a player of his role. It also sets him up to sign a long-term deal in three years\u2019 time, when the salary cap will be substantially higher than it is today, with the NHL already committing to cap increases for the 2026-27 and 2027-28 seasons. That sets Laferriere up to cash in down the road, after what he hopes are three seasons with the Kings of continuing to prove his worth.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was definitely a lot of talk about different years, different numbers and stuff like that but I think three years for me puts me in the best position for my career and it gives me a little bit extra time before that next contract,\u201d Laferriere said. \u201cI think with the layout of our team, you don\u2019t know what\u2019s going to happen and giving myself three years to make a bigger impact on the team and solidify myself in a bigger role just seemed like the right thing to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

I liked the way he put it.<\/p>\n

Laferriere took a big step forward this past season, as he finished just one goal shy of scoring 20 for the first time in the NHL. He was good but his potential is greater than that. Laferriere should be a lock for 20 goals in most seasons, certainly, but he brings a ton of intangibles to his game that are appreciated, on top of the versatility of playing just about anywhere in the lineup and analytics that project very favorably, not just with the Kings but around the NHL. <\/p>\n

\n

Ah the elite tier of forwards who did a ton with the puck in the regular season and the playoffs. McDavid, MacKinnon, Draisaitl, Eichel, Boldy, Necas, Ehlers, Fiala, and\u2026 Laferriere? pic.twitter.com\/EDGgfjI2Rk<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 JFresh (@JFreshHockey) August 4, 2025<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

With that in mind, while last season was good for Laferriere, he knows that he\u2019s got more to give as he continues to develop and progress. The Kings know it as well. I wouldn\u2019t call this a \u201cprove it\u201d deal for Laferriere because the term is three years and it\u2019s at a sizable number. Everyone knows he\u2019s a good player. But both sides also know that the player Laferriere was last year is not the end all, be all. That should come later. <\/p>\n

For now, the Kings retain the services of a player that everyone in the organization seems to love, at a cap number that gives the team plenty of space to work with entering the season to potentially improve the roster down the road. From Laferriere\u2019s perspective, he gets a well-deserved raise and sets himself up to cash in when the market should be even more lucrative. <\/p>\n

\u201c[The salary cap] is definitely something you kind of have to look at,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s something that hasn\u2019t been relevant in the last little while, so it\u2019s definitely new and different for both sides of the negotiation. I think you have to look at it but I think that\u2019s where you\u2019ve just got to trust in your support team and know that they\u2019re going to try and put you in the best position possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

As far as his own involvement in the negotiations, Laferriere said he wasn\u2019t necessarily boots on the ground with every step of the negotiating process but he was definitely involved. <\/p>\n

He called it a \u201clearning experience\u201d for him as he progressed through something like this for the first time. Sure, he had signed an entry-level contract back in 2023 but this was different. This was a player with an established and tangible body of work, now signing his second contract. Unlike an ELC, the restrictions on this deal were substantially fewer than they are on rookie contracts, meaning it could have gone in a number of directions. <\/p>\n

He said that his representation handled the \u201cheavy lifting\u201d of the negotiating process but noted that he got a lot of calls from his agent throughout the course of the summer to keep him in the loop on where everything was at and how things were progressing. Being in early August, there\u2019s still a long runway between now and the season, so this didn\u2019t come down to the wire in any way, as we saw a few years back with Mikey Anderson and Sean Durzi. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was definitely involved with the whole process throughout it, but for me, I\u2019m still learning, it was my first contract negotiation, so I was just learning along the way,\u201d he said. \u201cMy agent, Mike [Curran] definitely did a lot of the heavy lifting, talking with Jake Goldberg and Ken [Holland] and he would always call me and let me know what was going on throughout those talks. It was definitely a cool learning experience for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

His focus now shifts from learning to playing and his offseason should be much different than it was the year prior.<\/p>\n

In his rookie campaign in 2023-24, Laferriere was routinely partnered with center Pierre-Luc Dubois but his trade to the Capitals shortly after a disappointing season meant that Laferriere would be playing with new linemates going forward. While he began the season with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe, Laferriere moved around quite a bit over the first few months of the season before everything fell into place for the Kings up front, with Laferriere winding up on a line with Quinton Byfield and Kevin Fiala from February through the postseason. That line was extremely effective and unlike last summer, the Kings are on track to return their entire top-nine, finalized with Laferriere and forward Andrei Kuzmenko both re-signing with the organization.<\/p>\n

That builds consistency and something for Laferriere to be able to, hopefully, build on, as opposed to learn on the fly. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s super exciting,\u201d he said of the consistency. \u201cThroughout last season, I think everybody in the top nine probably played together at one point, so we\u2019re very tight, we know how each other plays and stuff like that, so going into this year, no matter who you\u2019re going to be out there with, you kind of know their little tendencies, you know their habits. It\u2019s definitely very exciting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Would expect to see Laferriere begin the season where he ended the previous one, on that line with Fiala and Byfield. It\u2019s a line with the potential to be a driver for the Kings, especially if Byfield and Fiala can both sustain their torrid pace from the final 30 or so games of last season. Laferriere\u2019s numbers with those players were not as gaudy, but there\u2019s plenty of factors that would lead you to believe that over a longer sample size, his numbers would rise as well. <\/p>\n

Certainly the hope. <\/p>\n

For today, it\u2019s a good thing to see a player like Alex Laferriere sign a contract. A homegrown talent who wants to be a King. Good guy to keep in the fold. <\/p>\n