Aside from Drew Doughty, defensemen for the Los Angeles Kings don’t get much credit in the NHL. Fans who’ve been following the league for a while will likely recognize Alex Edler from his days with the Vancouver Canucks. That being said, the Defense Corps is made up of players created through LA’s system. One of those players is Mikey Anderson, who just signed a massive contract extension.
Anderson’s rise to an important play
On February 15, the Kings announced they had re-signed Anderson to an eight-year contract with a salary cap of $4.1 million per season. It probably came as a bit of a surprise to most fans in the league that a relatively unknown player would receive a maximum-length deal. People probably looked at his basic stats and were still confused as to why a 33 career point player was worth that kind of overtime from the Kings.
Mikey Anderson, Los Angeles Kings (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images)
Anderson made his NHL debut just before COVID-19 shut down the league in March 2020. He was a fourth-round draft pick in the 2017 draft. He played for two years at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, where he won the National Championship in his sophomore season. He was then considered a decent candidate in the system of kings, but certainly not a sure thing. The Kings gave him a chance at the big club after spending over half a season with Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League. Since joining the team, Anderson has impressed everyone with his defensive play.
Anderson establishes strong defensive action
Since becoming a regular in the NHL, Anderson has found a pretty home in the Kings roster. He stands next to Drew Doughty on the blue line. These two have played the fourth most five-a-side minutes together of any defensive pair in the NHL since the 2020-21 season. Together they score over 50 percent of shot attempts, goal chances and goals on the ice. This has become the Kings’ matchup pairing, which typically plays against the other team’s top lines in key situations.
Mikey Anderson’s save in 5-on-5, from HockeyViz.com
The picture above shows that Anderson was adept at holding wide shots last season. It came in handy for him to have such an effective season right as he was due on a new contract. The Kings were able to lock him up for just $1 million on a one-year contract in September. This would allow for their salary cap situation, perhaps with a handshake agreement to settle something with a longer term start next season. Whether there was some kind of understanding or not, Anderson got the extension he probably wanted.
The long term extension and future of the kings salary cap
This new contract will keep Anderson as king through the 2030-31 season. The team was able to avoid five years of potential unlimited freedom of action by signing the deal for the maximum number of years allowed. If he’s able to maintain his solid defensive game, that could look like smart business from general manager Rob Blake going forward. That deal is similar to one Mattias Samuelsson and the Buffalo Sabers agreed to in October. Samuelsson received seven years and a slightly higher cap hit while having poorer overall defensive bases.
See also: Anderson One of the Kings’ breakout players in 21-22
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The Kings have faced the salary cap head-on all season, and most of their big deals won’t be off the books this summer. The only significant cap hit they will lose is Jonathan Quick’s $5.8 million. If you factor in that extension and the one Trevor Moore signed, the Kings have already used $5.45 million of that money. They still have their goalies to look after for next season and have some limited free agents like Gabriel Vilardi who need raises. With the salary cap potentially increasing by as little as $1 million, the Kings have very little room to maneuver in the offseason.
Overall, this is an interesting game made by Blake and the Kings front office. While the salary cap will remain the same next season, it’s likely to increase by a margin a few years from now, which will make a difference in how we view deals like this. Anderson is locked up for his prime and could still improve with more games under his belt. It would be nice for him to throw in more insults as someone who is going to make more money now. This contract is definitely still risky because if the defensive play slacks, the Kings could feel compelled to keep him in a big role.
Teams are now more willing to award deals like this, and if you can land a contributor for below market value, it’s looking great. They can also be traded as some teams value cost certainty for their cap situation. Michael Matheson signed an eight-year contract with the Florida Panthers and has since been traded twice. That’s not how the Kings want things to go with this contract, but it’s always nice to have options. If things go according to plan, Anderson should play a key defensive role for the franchise for years to come.
Source: thehockeywriters.com
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