Hersley and Lukacevic
The two players the Kings gave up to get Denis Gauthier were unlikely to join the NHL club soon, if at all.
Patrik Hersley, a 22-year-old defenseman, was a fifth-round draft pick in 2005. A 6-foot-3, 205-pound native of Sweden, Hersley had one goal and eight assists in 42 games with Manchester last season and three goals and 15 assists in 20 games with Reading of the ECHL.
Ned Lukacevic, a 22-year-old forward, was a fourth-round draft pick in 2004. A 6-foot, 185-pound native of Serbia, Lukacevic had 17 goals and 19 assists in 61 games with Reading last season.
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Rich Hammond has covered the Kings, on a full-time or part-time basis, since the 2000-01 season. He was the beat writer for the entire John Torchetti era and has witnessed Bob Miller singing country music in a Nashville honky-tonk bar. A native of Los Angeles, Rich has worked at the Daily News since 1999 and also serves as the paper's deputy sports editor. E-mail Rich at rich.hammond@dailynews.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.
Alec Martinez > Patrik Hersley
and hes going to get his roster spot.
and we get a second round pick?
yes please.
So we just took on salary for the sake of a draft pick. I guess that is how Dean wants to meet the cap floor.
agreed the 2nd round pick is the most lucrative part of this deal.
Gauthier is really a depth move...a possible 6th defenseman ala Klemm. there should still be some other name (plus Blake) the Kings are targeting to play D.
Thanks for posting the stats on the prospects. I thought Hersley was pretty well regarded at one point, but he and Lukacevic were two of the prospects who kept on being bumped down to Reading because they weren't good enough for Manchester. Good move. Does this mean that Dallman's a goner?
Kings D:
Blake/JJ
Preissing/Green
Goat/Harrold
Doughty
scary, but good scary.
This was probably also a move to increase our salary cap which is too low right now. Next year Gauthier is not on the books so we have cap room for bigger salaries of our young stars. 2nd round pick is nice. Good job Lombardi.
I like this deal. Will Gautier play in L.A. or Manchester next year? Either one is possible. But to get him AND a 2nd round pick for basically nothing is a win for the Kings. I'd be very surprised if Hersley or Lukacevic will ever make an NHL club. And I expect Hersley to be playing in Sweden full time within 2 or 3 seasons. So good move by Dean Lombardi.
And I would think that Kevin Dallman is not long for the L.A. Kings. There's just no place for him on the roster anymore. I'd expect to see Klemm move too.
good deal by DL. It was pretty much a second round pick for 2 guys that never would make the Kings. We needed to take on salary to hit the cap floor, and like guys say, Gauthier will be gone next year. Good move.
Klemm signed in Germany a little bit ago.
Klemm signed in Germany.
I forgot about Dalman sometime around April 9th.
plus, Gauthier will be playing with the Kings. In order for his salary to count against the cap, he must be on the big club. If he is in Manchester, the deal really doesnt make any sense
It makes sense from the Flyers perspective b/c then they get to dump salary.
Ryan Oliver,
If he plays with the Kings, in order for his salary to count, won't he taking another prospects spot.
That doesn't make any sense if he's gone after one season.
Fair question, Right.
We are assuming the intent was to hit the cap floor. It very may well be that, but my first reaction was that they planned to put him in Manchester for a veteran presence since Klemm is gone. Could also be up in the air, just another guy to challenge Doughty, Tuebert, Hickey and Martinez in camp for their roster spot.
Solid trade, either way.
Ollie Kolzig to Tampa, Jose Theodore to Washington...
Christobal Huet is out there, Dean-O, and waiting for you to bring him back home to Los Angeles!!! Make it happen!!!
@ Bob, sorry man this is a good move. Yes good move for Philly too. We need salary on the books for THIS YEAR ONLY and Philly dumps the salary. We get a draft pick. I like it!
By the way, can't wait for next offseason when all these players will be blooming and we'll have some nice looking $$$ to spend.
Anthony, I believe Teubert wont make the Kings. Hope he does, but another year in the CHL wont hurt him. The Kings need to get to the cap floor, so if Gauthier doesnt make the Kings, why trade for him? If it was a first round pick included, maybe. I feel this is one of the 2 defensemen DL was going after. Blake probably being the other one. Remember, this isnt a playoff team if they trade for Lidstrom. Just another filler player, thats all.
And how about the Canucks offering Sundin 2 years/ 20 million!!! Wow.
Ryan Oliver,
Understood, but what about Hickey, Doughty, Piskula, or Martinez.
If we're not a playoff team yet, would it not be better to give our future blue-liners some experience.
This way, we're giving it to person whose gone after the 09 season.
Your analogy does make sense though.
Anthony, have you read any of DL's comments. He wants to create competition for the young guys and if someone comes in and is simply better and then that obviously means the worse is not yet ready to be thrown into the nhl. I'd say there's a 80% chance piskula or hickey will make the team this year. and no, it's not better they are thrown into this league when they are obviously not good enough yet to play on a weak ass team like the kings. they'll develop better in manchester or wherever they get sent.
in the past few weeks i've watching lots of people simply lose patience for this 3 year process. thank god lombardi hasn't
Anthony, I do argee with you 100 percent. This is not a playoff team, so, yes, I want to see a defence of Blake, Johnson, Hickey, Doughty, Teubert, and the russian they drafted. But I know that wont happen. They can trade Preissing for all I care.
Hickey, Doughty, Piskula, Martinez will get thier shot at camp. I believe Doughty for sure will make it the big club this coming season. As to the other 3 it's a crap shoot. Your looking at a defense like this if Blake is re-signed:
Blake/Johnson
Pressing/Doughty
Gauthier/Greene
7.Harrold
8.Hickey
9.Martinez
Personally I would rather have Orpik replace Blake and have Pressing and Gautier split time with either Martinez or Hickey. Also have Harrold play somewhere in there.
Orpik/Johnson
Pressing/Doughty
Gautier/Greene
7.Harrold
8.Hickey
9.Martinez
This is pretty simple:
LA: A second round pick (nice)
Gauthier, a veteran presence in Manchester that is lacking
Philly: Dumps salary and hopes one of these prospects works out
Now what is Philly dumping space for?
Doughty / Greene
(Blake) / Johnson
Gauthier / Preissing
Harrold
Conventional wisdom has Teubert and Hickey not ready, but who knows. Same CW says Martinez is ready and would be challenging Harrold and/or Gauthier for their spots. Harrold is obviously the most vulnerable. I think Preissing, given a chance, will be solid this year, like he was in OTT.
And for '09-'10:
Brown / Kopitar / O'Sullivan
Moulson / Boyle / Frolov
Purcell / Stoll / Moller
Ivanans / Handzus (Lewis) / Simmonds
Doughty / Greene
Teubert / Johnson
Martinez / Hickey
Preissing (etc.)
Bernier
Ersberg
Piskula and martinez will play in manchester - piskula is not an nhl caliber defenseman. Gauthier can take a spot in la but he can also be shipped to manchester. The d will be blake, jj,preissing,harold,greene,hickey and doughty. I dont think junior hockey is goood/the right fit for hickey at this point. He must play at an higher level and I think he is not old enough to play in manchester. So either we keep him in la or we ship him to a swedish elite league club where he can play regulary. Just my thougts.
The Flyers re-build in a year, the Lighting have just re-built in two days. How much more time does Lombardi need? Who will succeed first, Bush trying to re-build Iraq or Lombardi trying to re-build the Kings? At least nobody is dying over Lombardi's plan - it justs feels like it to us Kings fans!
Flyers and Lightning are not "rebuilt." Those aren't the models. And you CAN'T f***ing sign someone for $8MM when you will then have to pay that or more to your kids in two years and that means DISMANTLING THE TEAM.