One question answered

By Rich Hammond on May 8, 2007 3:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) |

The Kings signed Brady Murray to an entry-level deal today. For those who attended the prospects camp last summer, Murray was one of the kids who took the biggest steps forward in the eyes of Kings management, so this shouldn't come as a big surprise. On Thursday, I'll get a chance to ask Dean where he thinks Brady fits in. I'll cut and paste the press release below...

KINGS SIGN PROSPECT BRADY MURRAY

TO A MULTI-YEAR CONTRACT

LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Kings have signed center Brady Murray to a multi-year entry level contract, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced today.

Murray, 22, played in 38 games this season for Rapperswil-Jona of the Swiss-A League and had 32 points (12-20=32) and 38 penalty minutes. He was originally selected by the Kings in the fifth-round (152nd overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.

The 5-9, 180-pound native of Brandon, Manitoba, played with Rapperswil-Jona in 2005-06 and had 12 points (3-9=12) and 26 penalty minutes in 36 regular season games before adding five points (3-2=5) and 10 penalty minutes in 10 playoff games. Murray played for the University of North Dakota from 2003-05, totaling 66 points in 62 games, and in 2003-04 he was named the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) Rookie of the Year as a freshman. He also led the NCAA in points per game (1.24) among rookies and was named to the All-WCHA Rookie Team and All-WCHA Third Team that same season. In 2002-03, in 59 games with the Salmon Arm Silverbacks of the British Columbia Hockey League, Murray recorded 101 points including 42 goals.

Internationally, Murray in 2003-04 played for Team USA at the World Junior (Under-20) Championships and recorded two points (both goals) in six games as the American squad captured the Gold Medal.

Murray is the son of former Kings head coach/current St. Louis head coach Andy Murray.

J.P. Hoornstra writes about NHL and IHL hockey for the Los Angeles Newspaper Group. He welcomes any and all dialogue on the finer points of hockey. E-mail J.P. at jp.hoornstra
@inlandnewspapers.com.

Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews
.com.