On day two at the 2025 NHL Draft, the Ottawa Senators made a trade with the Los Angeles Kings to acquire defenseman Jordan Spence for two draft picks. In the 2024-25 season, Spence was underappreciated and an underrated defenseman on the Kings roster.
Spence recorded 28 points and with a solid +23 rating for the Kings in 2024-25. Spence was arguably the most underappreciated defensemen on the Kings roster with his contribution.
As free agency frenzy rolled around, it was going to be interesting to see how the Senators were going to be. However, the Kings were the ones who were more desperate after the Spence trade, and it showed.
Kings may have overpaid on defense after trading away Spence
On day one of free agency frenzy yesterday, the Senators' biggest splash was signing Lars Eller to a one-year contract at $1.25 million. While the Senators re-signed players from their 2025 playoff team, it was the Kings who showed the desperation.
The Kings signed former Senators goaltender Anton Forsberg to a two-year contract at $2.25 million per year. While Forsberg can be a quality backup in Los Angeles, it was two defensemen the Kings signed that may have raised some eyebrows.
The Kings signed Brian Dumolin to a three-year contract at $4 million per year and ex-Senator Cody Ceci to a four-year contract at $4.5 million per year. Dumolin being 33 years old and Ceci being 31 years old may have raised the question of why pay more for two older defensemen over Spence who is younger.
Spence is 24 years old and is one the final year of his restricted contract at $1.5 million. That is a solid price for a player who had a career year in 2024-25 unlike Dumolin and Ceci.
Ceci may have been the biggest surprise of a contract by any player so far into free agency with a salary of $4.5 million per year. What might be a shocker to some, is Ceci's salary over the next four years is higher than John Tavares' new four-year contract extension salary ($4.38 million per year) with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
While Dumolin had some struggles after being traded to the New Jersey Devils at the trade deadline this past March to conclude the regular season, he made up for it by playing over 29 minutes per game in the 2025 playoffs. For Ceci, he became a liability at times for the Dallas Stars in the 2025 playoffs.
Spence will be eager for a fresh start and looking to prove the Kings wrong in Ottawa. For the Kings, the Spence trade could come back and bite them if Dumolin and Ceci have some struggles at the age they're at, and at the salaries they now have.