Report card grades for all 31 NHL teams at the trade deadline

Los Angeles Kings: C+

The Kings opened the major trades for February when they acquired Dion Phaneuf and Nate Thompson from the Ottawa Senators. After that, they stayed quiet and made a deal with the Arizona Coyotes to bring in Scott Wedgewood and Tobias Rieder. Rob Blake knew going into the deadline that he needed to address depth on the blue line and his bottom two lines. Rieder takes care of the forward depth problem, while Phaneuf will fill the hole in the bottom part of the Kings defense.

The Kings see a benefit in the short term with Phaneuf but in the long run, his contract will become a nightmare. Phaneuf was at one point supposed to be an elite defenseman in the NHL. He never really hit that level, and then regressed quickly in Toronto. After his trade to Ottawa, he played limited minutes and still was not worth his $7 million a year contract. The contract is set to run until 2020–21. If Phaneuf continues to regress, that contract will be an anchor on the Kings’ salary cap. Rieder is less of a liability as his contract expires at the end of this season.

Phaneuf is a big gamble for the Los Angeles Kings. He fills an immediate need for a bottom pairing defenseman but has a large cost. If the Kings can win with Phaneuf and make the money work out then the trade is worth it. For now, Rob Blake and the Kings get a C+.