While today’s opening of NHL free agency is defined for many by four words — “show me the money” — new Kings general manager Ken Holland may prefer “defense, defense, defense, defense.”

He addressed the media three times in the week leading up to the free agency kickoff, with each session stressing a need for defensemen while revealing that it became increasingly broad and urgent.

Holland said defense was “at the top of the to-do list” and had “most of (his) focus,” all while revealing that two of the Kings’ most consistently dressed defensemen last year would not return for 2025-26.

After detailing that it didn’t seem as though Jordan Spence, who played 79 of 82 regular-season games and five of six playoff games in a reduced role, would hold his top-six spot, he traded Spence to give him a fresh start in a contract year. All the while, Holland was cognizant of the possibility that Vladislav Gavrikov, who can play either side and was voted the Kings’ top defenseman last year, could depart in free agency, a possibility that grew more salient over the weekend.

“It’s looking more and more like he’s going to go to July 1 (as a free agent),” Holland said on Saturday via teleconference. “As we all know, I would anticipate that there’ll be some players around the league that are UFA that are going to sign between now and Monday. I’m not sure if Gavrikov is one or if he’s not. But if he’s not, then we have to obviously wade into the market and get a defenseman or two.”

Goaltending

The Kings are set with their No. 1 netminder in Darcy Kuemper, the man who arrived for a second stint in Los Angeles with a cape on his back and a season where he was a finalist for the Vezina Trophy, ready to unfurl. While he cleansed the Kings’ palette of some of the bitterness from their failed Pierre-Luc Dubois acquisition, Kuemper is 35 and had two stints on IR last year, meaning the Kings could be on the trail of a veteran backup to split duties with Kuemper.

There have been several rumblings that the Kings could be in the market for another veteran goalie to play behind Kuemper. Their in-house options are limited, with David Rittich being an underperforming, pending unrestricted free agent (Holland said he’d maintained communication with Rittich’s agent, Craig Oster), Erik Portillo sustaining a back injury last year and Pheonix Copley being re-signed as a No. 3 option.

Defense

Not only do the Kings likely have a pair of holes to fill on defense, but outside of workhorse Mikey Anderson, they’ve got question marks in their existing personnel. Drew Doughty is coming off his second serious injury in the past four years, a broken ankle that cost him over 50 games last season. Joel Edmundson has always been an injury risk despite playing a career-high number of games in 2024-25, his first campaign as a King. In trading Spence, they may have moved out a stylistic fit, in the eyes of coaches Jim Hiller and D.J. Smith, but replacing him with another right defenseman of comparable quality will be extremely difficult for the same $1.5 million.

Forwards

The “Kuzmenkshow” has been renewed for another season as the Kings re-signed winger Andrei Kuzmenko to a one-year contract worth $4.3 million, the club announced in a news release on Monday.

Kuzmenko, 29, arrived at the trade deadline. Not only did he score 17 points in 22 games, all of which came in a 14-match stretch, but his ostensibly modest addition had a significant ripple effect.

He sparked the top line, reinvigorating Anže Kopitar and Adrian Kempe after a midseason lull. He allowed several forwards to slot into more natural roles, creating better offensive balance and catapulting overall scoring.

The Kings had ranked 27th in goals per game for the better part of two seasons, but placed second in the NHL during Kuzmenko’s initial stint. They also won 17 of 22 games with Kuzmenko in their lineup.

Free agency opens with more and more names coming off the board by the hour.

Notably, Mitch Marner traded blue and white for gold and gray, as he went from the Toronto Maple Leafs to the Vegas Golden Knights in a sign-and-trade arrangement.

Vegas is also the frontrunner to land Calgary Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson via trade, per multiple reports. TSN’s Darren Dreger divulged that Holland made a hefty offer to Calgary during this weekend’s draft, only to discover that Andersson, who is a 2026 unrestricted free agent, was not interested in extending his contract if he were traded to the Kings.

The Florida Panthers re-signed both Brad Marchand and Aaron Ekblad to long-term deals, allowing the defending champs to retain all three of their notable UFAs after already locking up Conn Smythe Trophy winner Sam Bennett. Columbus also re-signed Ivan Provorov, taking another potential blue-line target off the board.