After keeping Kings fans on their heels for the last month with a scary cap situation and two young and key unsigned RFA defensemen, Rob Blake and staff have finally eased some of the worries by re-signing Mikey Anderson to a one-year $1M contract.
Who Is Mikey Anderson And What Does He Bring To The Kings?
Mikey is a 23 year old defensive defensemen who is still learning parts of the game while being near elite at others. Drafted in the 4th round of the 2017 NHL entry draft Anderson, better known to us Kings fans as Mikey, has turned into a core piece of this teams future. Early into his NHL career he impressed with the Kings with his mature game and quickly got slotted on a line with veteran assistant captain Drew Doughty. Playing top line minutes with one of the best defensemen in the NHL who’s won cups, gold medals, and played now over 1,000 NHL games is quite an honor. But being mature wasn’t the only thing that earned him that spot.
Looking at Mikey’s base stats might leave you scratching your head because in 117 NHL games he has a mere 20 points and is only a +10. Now although yes, Mikey’s biggest weakness is easily his offense, he brings just about everything else to the table at a top 4 D level. If you need great defense, a guy who can eat minutes, someone who doesn’t take many penalties, and someone who can nearly lead your team in hits while not being a worry to be suspended at all, and at the young age of 23 where he can still learn so much more, Mikey Anderson is the defensemen you want on your team.
For the Kings Mikey is a perfect fit. With the veteran presence of Edler, offensive game of Durzi and Doughty, two-way game of Roy and Walker, Mikey brings that shutdown mature defense where the Kings need it. Adding him onto a team with Kopitar, Danault, Iafallo, Moore, Byfield, Kaliyev, and oh boy do you have a team that can shut it down when needed.
Why Only One Year?
So if Mikey is so great then why would the Kings only give him one-year? Great question and it’s a simple answer. Due to Doughty and Kopitar’s massive double digit contracts and the additions of Arvidsson, Danault, Fiala, etc, the Kings are a little short on cap space. In the next two off-seasons the Kings will have $25M+ freed up but for now they have to accept the problem. This one-year contract was the only option because obviously Mikey wasn’t going to sign a multi-year extension for $1M per season. Next off-season once the key UFA’s are locked up the Kings will most likely re-sign Mikey, who’ll still be an RFA, to a long term extension.
The Morning Skate 