News and notes

Thank you Rich...the whole Brendan Morrison thing seemed so ridiculous and didn't make any sense at all. Seemed like one of those things that agents invent to make their clients seem more marketable, but since it was reported on TSN by a canadian reporter, I'm not too surprised, considering their recent efforts (see the Lubo story), I'm not shocked whatsoever.

It's called check for the truth before printing it...not too hard.

Morrison made no sense for the Kings, so I doubted it all along...The two D-men's names that I have been hearing are Schneider and Kubina. Wonder if one of those are the ones being mentioned, or if they are just outlandish rumours as usual. Hope its Schneider, I wouldn't mind seeing him in a Kings Uni again..

Awww Come on Rich!! Whats the defensemans name??

sign the Kids, hire a coach... nothing else matters.

THANKS RICH, DOES IT SEEM TO YOU THAT THIS SUMMER MAYBE HASNT GONE AS PLANNED? IS THERE ANY SENSE OF PANIC? I KNOW DEAN WOULD NEVER SHOW IT BUT I WONDER WHATS GOING ON BEHIND THE SCENES.

I think we should try and get Ian White, a young D man from Toronto. He is the odd man out of a log jam up there on the blueline and I think he can be very good. He's pretty fast and can QB a powerplay. We could probably get him for a 3rd or 4th rounder and his contract is less than a Mill.

Its pretty sad that DL's sole reason to acquire a D-Man is to reach the minimum cap requirement. Not to actually improve the team.
After a year or so, that D-Mam will be gone.

Visnovsky's contract came down on the weekend of last year's prospect camp, if I recall correctly. Hopefully the same will happen with O'Sullivan's this weekend!

Rich, any chance the defenseman (who could possibly be acquired) now wears the sweater of a division rival, and once played for the Kings?

No, Philippe Boucher is not returning... That must be the player you're referring to, of course!

You are kidding, of course! Schneider would be the left-hand shot needed on the point!

I never liked losing Schneider. Definately would enjoy watching him again in a Kings jersey. He would be a stellar veteran presence for Doughty, being of similar styles.

I've always liked Kubina's game and that gnarly slapper of his. That said, I don't think his contract is smart to pick up. Schneider may be overpriced if he were to have signed that contract this July, but it won't hurt the Kings at all to have him for a year. Then he either gets traded for some free picks at the deadline, or if he gels with and helps our young defense, there's an option to keep him for a faaar reduced priced that makes sense after we resign Kopi and JJ, etc.

I wonder what we'd have to give up? I always hate sending assests the ducks way, but DL has traded with them a few times in the recent past, and I think those were some fairly good trades, not outstanding but even money deals. Hopefully Burke will be desparate to unload that $5.625 mill in order to bring Teemu back, making for better leverage to only give up a pick or two and a B level prospect or a fourth liner.

Rich Hammond said:
No, Philippe Boucher is not returning... That must be the player you're referring to, of course!

Oh, I thought he was talking about Larry Murphy.

I'd definitely like to see Army gone. He's almost talentless. This team needs four good lines that can put the puck in the net to be competetive in this league. Keeping Ivan is a no brainer unless they can pick up another tough guy with talent, but there needs to be two strong players with him or the line is nothing. Since the Kings allowed most of the good FA's go by the wayside, they need to scan the remaining FA's for a couple players better than Army and Giuliano, get a good coach who can get the most out of his players without alienating them and get this team on the road to a successful season.

Rich- Any chance Florida is that potential trade partner. Besides the big name of Bowmeester they've got several other lefties and young guys like Allen, Ballard and Welch (those last 2 are 1 year from RFA too).

Problem is Florida needs offensive power and they're not in need of cap space so it could cost LA too much to get any of those D guys.

If Schneider they better get Burke to cover part of that salary. $5+ mil is a little steep for an often injured guy if you could have had Blake at less. No?

I was hoping for Charlie Huddy myself.

Rich Hammond said:
No, Philippe Boucher is not returning... That must be the player you're referring to, of course!

I thought he meant Rob Blake. :|

Larry Murphy? funny stuff.

There's always the possibility that Blake wasn't that good of a teacher to the young guys. Perhaps the reason DL wasn't too hot to sign him was because his star status got in the way of a true and gritty mentor-student relationship. I know I'm going out on a limb here, and its not to say Blake is at fault... it could be the kids reaction to him. Just a thought.

Anyone who says Army is "talentless" has very little knowledge of the game of hockey. There is a reason a lot of hockey people much smarter than most of us have kept him around all these years. No, the guy shouldn't be centering one of the top two lines but I'm sick of the disrespect thrown Armstrong's way all the time. If there is one player on the Kings who spills it EVERY night he's on the ice and thankful for the chance to do so, it's Army. He's also one of the guys who always has time for the fans. So the guy isn't Messier circa 1989. . .so what? Give him a role and let him go to work.
That out of the way. . .I'd love to bring Schneider back. I hated trading him away in the first place. Hell, bring him and Kubina in and spend some of that damn money! Besides, someone needs to run the powerplay because Preissing is about it right now and he doesn't exactly have a cannon.

Rich,

Any chance the Kings might make a run at any of the guys who went to arb with other teams? There is a LOT of good (at least B or B+) 24 to 26 year old players on this list: Morrisonn, Bouchard, Wideman, Svatos, Bouwmeester (A+), Vermette and Filppula just to name a few...

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/news;_ylt=Ao4K6bBxYLLI1yfqxRFEVB1ivLYF?slug=ap-salaryarbitration&prov=ap&type=lgns

Some teams, like WAS at just $1.18 Mil, have litlle to no cap space to sign these guys at the present time even if they wanted to. Does the player become a UFA in case his team walks away from him? If not, how is it decided which team gets the first shot at this player?

Thanks for all the hard work!!!

BluLine77,
Amusingly, you objected so strongly to Armstrong being called "talentless," but then couldn't name a single talent of his. Being hard-working and being great with fans aren't talents; they're character traits. No one denies that he has great character. What he does not have, though, is talent, at least NHL talent. That doesn't mean that there isn't a place for him in the NHL, but he's not an asset that any team would cry over losing.

Sooooo... That leaves out Modry... Someone give DL six silver dollars and a box of Snickers...

Toronto's Kubina is only 31, but has 2 seasons left at $5 mil per. Hefty. Is he worth it? Same age as Lubo, $2 mil cheaper per season and not signed for 5 years.

Ian White is a right hand shot. We've got a lot of those guys now.

Hurricane's Fran Kaberle? 31 and makes just $2.2 mil per season with 2 years left. Carolina has too many d-men, btw. A return to the Kings?

Either Dl is going to find a "bridge" guy who is an older vet for one year...or a "builder" - someone late 20s who can still be here 2-3 years down the line.

The reason this may not take place till August is because of arbitration hearings. Once those come down, some RFA players are going to get more money than expected...and a few GMs will have to shed some payroll.

In steps DL.

Yes mask0425la they do become UFA's if a team decides to walk away from an arbitrators ruling. Not many teams have done it though. I remember Boston did it with Dimitri Khristich.

Blueline77 is Armstrong posting to save his job.

Armstrong would be a GREAT addition.....to the Monarchs to mentor them. He's been horrible for two years now and while it wasn't his fault he was put on the PP and first and second lines last year, he was awful.

Does anyone know how much depents and ensure are for Schneider each week? Might want to add that in to the cost of getting him.

Jon,
Yeah, haha Armstrong sucks. . .whatever. Ladislav Nagy has buttloads of "talent" but no heart. So what the good does talent alone get you? Everyone (including me) has bagged Modry relentlessly but how many years has he been in the NHL?? Despite guys like Crow, Andy Murray and Larry Robinson being fired I would still argue that they are a better judge of NHL "talent" than you, me or anyone else here and they all put guys like Modry and Army in their lineups. Armstrong is fairly reliable on faceoffs, a better than average passer, works hard on defense, is able to grind and cycle on the forecheck, is durable, will throw his body around and will stick up for his teamates. Yeah, who the hell needs a guy like that on their team?? Not every player is a Crosby, Gretzky, or Bobby Orr. Just because you can't score 80 goals with a guy on NHL2k8 doesn't make them worthless.

I was hoping we'd have a big trade to talk about you know, like Army, Calder and Ersberg for either a guy from Edmonton by the name of Vishnovsky or the other guy from the Sharks "old" what's his name, you guys remember him, lives over in Manhattan Beach, oh yeeaaaa, Blake. I hope that never happens, just had to throw some sick humor out there, you guys were getting up tight again..... or maybe even .... still.