From an L.A. Times blog about Michael Jackson's memorial at Staple Center:

[Updated at 12:03 p.m.: In an earlier version of this post, Tim Leiweke's name was misspelled as Lieweke.]

Yesterday I posted the schedule for the development camp. Right now, there aren't any plans for the usual end-of-camp scrimmage that usually takes place. Also, as they did last year, the Kings and Phoenix Coyotes will play a two-game rookie series during training camp. Last year's games took place in Phoenix, so this year they will shift to L.A.

A quick interview with Dean Lombardi...

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Question: How did this one come together?

LOMBARDI: ``We were trying to avoid what happened last year with Orpik. It was the exact same situation. With Orpik last year, we knew what Pittsburgh offered, and we made our offer but the (current team) is always going to get the last chance, and they got him. In this case, we found out what Pittsburgh was offered and we knew we just had to blow them out of the water. When you're talking about offers, it's not just the money. It's cost of living in L.A. and it's taxes. If you're offering $500,000 more, it's really not that much when you look at everything. So we knew we had to blow Pittsburgh out of the water, but we wanted this guy. He has a ring and there are no questions at all about his character.''

Question: Where do you see him fitting in with the guys already here?

LOMBARDI: ``He's a steady guy who can go with Doughty and a steady guy that can go with Johnson. We like the guys we have, the Quinceys and the Greenes, but the real steady guys I've got are the ones that are coming up through the system now. I didn't want to have to play those kids right away. I wanted another guy with experience, and now I can put all of those kids in the minors for a year and I've got a guy with a ring. Now hopefully I don't have to go back into that (free-agent) market for a while looking for guys (on defense).''

Question: Looking at the roster, it would seem that you have six NHL-ready defensemen. Is there a chance one of the kids could still jump out at you?

LOMBARDI: ``Sure there's a chance, but there's also a question of how the money might even out. It's a huge price to pay to break a kid in at this level. You get him in, then he maybe has one good year and then, boom, he's asking for (a big contract). When you build depth, you try to do it the way Detroit did with (Jonathan) Ericsson, and bring them along slowly. Let's say Hickey comes in and lights it up in training camp. OK, that's a good problem to have, but in the long run, if you can wait until your guys are completely ready, you hopefully end up like Detroit. It gets tough when you have a situation like we had with Moller. He has a great camp and we take him, but he's not really a man yet. I hate to do that, so this (Scuderi signing) helps us.''

It's tough to make judgments based on a phone call, but it seems safe to say the Kings got a great character guy today in Rob Scuderi. Often it's the little things that say a lot about in person. In Scuderi's case, he made two attempts to reconnect after his cell phone cut out, and apologized profusely for interrupting the conversation. It's already clear that Scuderi will be a ``go-to guy'' for reporters seeking quotes.

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Question: Did you think the Kings were an option from the start, or is this something that just developed over the last couple days?

SCUDERI: ``They showed some interest on the first day, but they didn't really make an offer, so my agent and I didn't really know what would happen. I was interested in the Kings, because obviously there's a lot of young talent there. Today they made an offer and we got it done.''

Question: You mentioned the young talent. How much do you know about this Kings team?

SCUDERI: ``When you play in the East, you don't look a whole lot at the West. I think we played them once or twice during my time with the Penguins, but when I talked to Lombardi and Hextall, they told me to take a long look at the roster. It's not hard to see the good mix of talented guys and the young talent they have coming up. It's hard to miss guys like Doughty and Johnson, and it looks like there's a whole lot of potential on this team.''

Question: In talking to Lombardi, he seemed to be looking for a guy with some experience and leadership. Did he talk to you about what he expects, on and off the ice?

SCUDERI: ``One of the positives, one of the things that made my decision easier, is that they don't expect me to do anything different than I did for the last four years in Pittsburgh. A lot of guys, when they sign a free-agent contract, they feel like they have to do more and they feel obligated to live up to it, and it ends up hurting them because they try to do too much. They know what they can expect from me, both on and off the ice. I'm a family man, and I'm not the type of man who's going to be out burning the candle at both ends. I hope I can bring some leadership to the team.''

Question: Fans saw a lot of you in the playoffs, obviously, but maybe not a lot in general. What should people know about your game?

SCUDERI: ``I'd say I'm an extremely under-the-radar type of player. If you haven't noticed me during a game, I probably had a good one. You can expect me to make the simple plays when they need to be made and not take chances that lead to bad mistakes.''

Question: During your time in Pittsburgh, the Penguins went from being a pretty bad team to being champions. What types of things do these young Kings need to know about winning?

SCUDERI: ``It's all about the attitude and work ethic that you bring to the rink every day. We tried to create a winning culture in Pittsburgh, and I've seen how fast things can turn around for a team. I'm hoping I can be one of the players who helps create that type of culture here. This is a talented team, with all the defensemen and with guys like Kopitar and Brown and Frolov. They're not that far away. They were in it until the final month of the season, and I really think they're not that far away.''

Here's the release from the Kings. Quotes from Scuderi and Lombardi coming soon...

LOS ANGELES - The Los Angeles Kings have re-signed restricted free agent right wing Kevin Westgarth to a three-year contact, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced today.

Westgarth, 25, made his Kings/NHL debut this past season and played in nine games, recording zero points and nine penalty minutes. He also played in 65 games with the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, recording 10 points (4-6=10) and a team-leading 165 penalty minutes.

Originally signed by the Kings as an unrestricted free agent on March 16, 2007, the 6-5, 241-pound Westgarth is a native of Amherstberg, Ontario. Before turning pro, he played four years of college hockey at Princeton.

Here's the roster and schedule for the summer development camp, as released by the Kings. It doesn't appear as though there will be a camp-ending scrimmage, as there has been in previous years.

Defensemen:
Constantin Braun - sixth round (164th overall) in 2006
Andrew Campbell - third round (74th overall) in 2008
Nicolas Deslauriers - third round (84th overall) in 2009
Thomas Hickey - first round (4th overall) in 2007
David Kolomatis - fifth round (126th overall) in 2009
Alec Martinez - fourth round (95th overall) in 2007
Patrick Mullen - free agent signing, 2009
Colten Teubert - first round (13th overall) in 2008
Viatcheslav Voynov - second round (32nd overall) in 2008

Forwards:
Justin Azevedo - sixth round (153rd overall) in 2008
Kyle Clifford - second round (35th overall) in 2009
Robbie Czarnik - third round (63rd overall) in 2008
Nic Dowd - seventh round (198th overall) in 2009
Corey Elkins - free agent signing, 2009
Bud Holloway - third round (86th overall) in 2006
Dwight King - fourth round (109th overall) in 2007
Brandon Kozun - sixth round (179th overall) in 2009
Andrei Loktionov - fifth round (123rd overall) in 2008
Jordan Nolan - seventh round (186th overall) in 2009
Michael Pelech - sixth round (156th overall) in 2009
Garrett Roe - seventh round (183rd overall) in 2008
Brayden Schenn - first round (5th overall) in 2009
Linden Vey - fourth round (96th overall) in 2009
Geordie Wudrick - third round (88th overall) in 2008

Goalies:
Jonathan Bernier - has played in 4 games with the Kings; first round
(11th overall) in 2006
Jean-Francois Berube - fourth round (95th overall) in 2009
Martin Jones - free agent signing, 2008
Jonathan Quick - has played 47 games with the Kings; third round (72nd
overall) in 2005
Jeff Zatkoff - third round (74th overall) in 2006

SCHEDULE

Friday, July 10:
Group A - Practice, 8:30-9:15 a.m.
Game - 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Group B - Practice, 10:45-11:45 a.m.

Saturday, July 11:
Group B - Practice, 8:30-9:15 a.m.
Game - 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Group A - Practice, 10:45-11:45 a.m.

Sunday, July 12:
Group A - Practice, 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m.
Game - 12:30-1:30 p.m.
Group B - 1:45-2:30 p.m.

Rob Scuderi will get an average of $3.4 million over the next four years.

The paperwork is still being finalized, which is why there haven't been any official announcements. Still hoping to talk to Scuderi this afternoon.

From the Kings:

Rob Scuderi, Pittsburgh's 5th round choice, 134th overall, in 1998, has played in exactly 300 games with Pittsburgh, scoring 3-36=39, a plus-13 and 112 PIMs. He has added 1-7=8 in 49 postseason games with the Pens, including 1-4=5 in 24 games during the 2009 Stanley Cup playoffs, including an amazing save in Game No. 6 of the Stanley Cup Finals to preserve a 2-1 victory over Detroit as Pittsburgh won the Stanley Cup.

I will be able to get some quotes from Scuderi later, so stay tuned for that.

The Kings have reached a deal on a four-year contract with Rob Scuderi. Contract numbers haven't been tracked down yet, but given that Rob Rossi is one of the best beat writers around, I'd say $3.4 million per year is most likely an accurate figure.

Defenseman Rob Scuderi is close to signing a contract with the Kings. It has not yet been finalized, but it's in the final stages. Details to come...

Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was one of 46 players (and 16 defensemen) selected to participate in Canada's 2010 Olympic men's hockey team orientation camp, which will take place Aug. 24-27 at the Saddledome in Calgary. One notable omission from the camp was Steven Stamkos, who was chosen one spot ahead of Doughty in last year's draft.

A story on the selections can be found here.

OK, here are all the quotes from tonight's interview with Dean Lombardi. I typed fast, so excuse any typos. The only thing to add is that I asked Lombardi if he had any talks with agent Don Meehan about Alexander Frolov, and Lombardi said those would take place after the free-agency stuff sorts out a little more.

Hope you enjoy the quotes...

No? OK, I'll just get some sleep in that case...

(Just a joke)

(Don't overrun the Daily News' servers)

Give me a few minutes to get my notes together, but here are some bullet point (all according to Lombardi):

-- The Kings, and two other teams, had exclusive negotiating rights to talk to Hossa before July 1. If they had signed him, they would have owed some type of compensation to Detroit. The Kings were prepared for a massive Hossa deal, but he wanted to go to a more successful team.

-- The other big target was Mike Knuble, who ultimately decided to stay in the East.

-- The Kings looked at Gaborik, and debated whether to give him as many as three years, but weren't prepared to go anywhere near the Rangers' offer. They also looked at Havlat, in a similar way, but less seriously.

-- Lombardi said he will look at some of the remaining forwards, but sounded more prepared to look at trade possibilities, particularly with teams that have salary-cap issues.

-- Adding a veteran defenseman is a possibility, but not a strong one right now. Lombardi said they ``dabbled'' with Francois Beauchemin, but that's about it so far.

Pretty good stuff...give me a little while to put it together.

TSN reports that Martin Havlat has reached a ``verbal agreement'' to join the Minnesota Wild.

RDS is reporting that Montreal will sign Brian Gionta to a five-year, $25-million contract.

TSN is reporting that Marian Gaborik will sign a five-year contract with the New York Rangers worth $7.5 million per year. (corrected report)

Michael Cammalleri signs with Montreal...five years, $30 million.

Mike Komisarek to Toronto...five years, $4.5 million per year.

Steve Sullivan back to Nashville...two years, $7.5 million.

Samuel Pahlsson to Columbus...three years, $7.95 million.

We're chatting in a post below, so jump in if its not at capacity...

I'll just keep this open and add to it for a while...

David Koci to Colorado, one year, $575,000
Kent Huskins back to San Jose, two years, $3.4 million
Hal Gill to Montreal, two years, $4.5 million
Michael Rupp to Pittsburgh, two years, $1.625 million
Ian Laperriere to Philadelphia, three years, $3.5 million
Scott Clemmensen to Florida, three years, $3.6 million
Erik Cole back to Carolina, two years, $5.8 million

TSN says...Nikolai Khabibulin to Edmonton, four years, $15 million.

Latest reports...

Jaroslav Spacek to Montreal, three years, $11.5 million

Brian Boucher to Philadelphia, two years, $1.85 million.

Per TSN...Joel Ward still in Nashville, two years, $3 million, and Aaron Rome to Vancouver, one year, $550,000.

One year, $6 million per TSN.

Per TSN, Donald Brashear to Rangers...two years, $2.8 million.

Mike Knuble has signed with Washington, two years, $5.6 million.

Steve Montador to Sabres, 2 years, $3.1 million.

Dwayne Roloson to Islanders, 2-year deal, $5 million

Tomas Kopecky to Chicago, 2-year deal, $2.4 million.

Per TSN/Sportsnet

Reports have goalie Ty Conklin signing a two-year, $2.6-million deal with St. Louis.

TSN reports that Tampa Bay has signed Matt Walker to a four-year deal worth $1.7 million per year.

TSN is reporting that Marian Hossa has signed with Chicago, 12 years at $5.2 million per year.

Toronto has signed Colton Orr to a four-year contract worth $4 million, TSN reports.

There was a call for a chat earlier. I'm going to set this up, but I'm not going to have a lot of time to moderate it, so it's not an ``open'' room but I'll approve comments as I can...

Sportsnet and USA Today reporting that Mattias Ohlund has signed with Tampa Bay. Ohlund says seven years, $26.25 million. (they have corrected this)

TSN reporters that Daniel and Henrik Sedin are staying in Vancouver, on five-year contracts that will pay them an average of $6.1 million per season.

In terms of the Big Three (Hossa, Havlat, Gaborik), I'll make the following predictions: Hossa will not be a King, and Havlat and/or Gaborik will be with the Kings only if they agree to short-term deals. Once you get beyond those three, I haven't the slightest idea. Way too many names, way too wide open. I don't even know if one or both of Gaborik/Havlat is open to signing short-term deals, but perhaps the lure of playing together might get it done? It's going to be a crazy day all over the continent.

As you've already seen tonight, Calgary rolled the dice with Jay Bouwmeester and won, with a five-year contract, and Montreal got Scott Gomez from the Rangers for a package that includes Chris Higgins. Neither move should be a big surprise, although it will be interesting to see if the Gomez deal starts any trends. It's been known, since the trade deadline, that players such as Gomez, Smyth and Briere are there for the taking, by teams that want to take on enormous contracts, but will other guys get moved?

A quick communication with Dean Lombardi didn't yield much tonight. When I jokingly asked what big deal he had in the works, he said that he and his staff were ``just preparing our fall backs'' tonight,'' which is pretty standard. Should be a fun day tomorrow. I'll do my best to stay on top of things, starting in the morning.