The Los Angeles Kings managed to make the rare August splash in NHL free agency by landing veteran defenseman Christian Ehrhoff with a one-year deal, according to Bob McKenzie of TSN. Rich Hammond of The Orange County Register reports that Ehrhoff's contract is worth $1.5 million.
Ehrhoff spent last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins on a one-year deal after the Buffalo Sabres used a compliance buyout on him after Ehrhoff expressed a desire to leave the previous offseason. The 2014-15 campaign was a rough one for Ehrhoff, however, as injuries forced him to miss a good chunk of the season. The 33-year-old managed to put up 14 points in 49 games with the Pens, but missed the end of the regular season and playoffs due to concussion symptoms.
A veteran of 741 NHL games, Ehrhoff showed last season that he can still play a pretty strong game when healthy. In those 741 career games, Ehrhoff has posted 327 points. Ehrhoff hit 50 points in a season once in his career, and is a two-time 40-plus point scorer in the NHL.
He is taking a significant pay cut from the $4 million he made last season in Pittsburgh, which was his same annual average on his previous deal with the Sabres. Other teams known to be interested in Ehrhoff’s services included the Columbus Blue Jackets, who apparently were unable to meet the defenseman’s contract demands as the club is experiencing a bit of a salary cap crunch after a busy summer of their own.
The lack of cap space available league-wide and the chance to play for a contender probably drove Ehrhoff’s price down to essentially a bargain bin deal. Getting a player of Ehrhoff's caliber for that price is quite a coup for Los Angeles, who missed the playoffs last season and the opportunity to defend their title.
The Kings, meanwhile, are making the most of the cap space that they managed to clear up by terminating Mike Richards’ contract due to what the team called a “material breach of contract.” That said, the NHLPA recently filed grievance on behalf of Richards. That appeal has yet to be heard and will go before an independent arbitrator in the near future. The $1.5 million deal to Ehrhoff won’t necessarily hurt them in terms of cap space if Richards ends up getting reinstated (and probably bought out later).
Ehrhoff’s signing also comes with defenseman Slava Voynov’s future very much in doubt. Voynov pleaded no contest to a domestic violence charge and had been serving jail time for the offense. The NHL is still said to be reviewing that incident and could end up deciding to terminate Voynov’s contract. The Russian has been out of action since the league suspended him indefinitely following his arrest in mid-October.
The Kings never ended up adequately filling the top-four hole in their lineup left by the unexpected, but quite obviously necessary hole left by Voynov’s suspension. They traded for Andrej Sekera, but he ended up getting hurt and left as an unrestricted free agent before the Kings really got much out of him.
Ehrhoff will fill that hole more than adequately. His arrival might suggest that the Kings don’t see Voynov being reinstated by the league and it also adds an experienced blueliner at a discounted rate. The Pacific division is already tough, but with the Kings looking fully reloaded, it could be an absolute gauntlet this season.
