Russian peace treaty

The NHL and the Russian league reached an agreement today that should end the threat of players such as Kings draft picks Voinov and Loktionov staying overseas to play. Voinov and Loktionov have been dealing with visa issues, which is why they haven’t been at the prospects camp. The Kings were hoping to get at least one of them in town before the weekend. Here’s the meat of the AP story…

—–

ZURICH, Switzerland — The NHL reached an agreement with a new Russian hockey league Thursday that temporarily ends the threat of players being lured away by big-money offers.

The pact to respect player contracts across all borders followed offers made last month by teams in Russia’s Continental Hockey League — which begins play in September — to entice Evgeni Malkin out of the final year of his deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

It was reached at a meeting of the NHL, the NHL Players’ Association and international hockey leagues in Zurich, the home of the International Ice Hockey Federation.

“Everyone in the room agreed that for the foreseeable future everyone will respect everybody’s contracts,” NHL deputy commissioner Bill Daly said.

Union director Paul Kelly said all parties recognized the need for “clear respect between leagues.”

The deal was brokered with Russian league founder Alexander Medvedev, who had given his teams a green light to approach players like Malkin.

Medvedev was nominated to the working group that will meet in New York in September in hopes of creating an international transfer agreement to replace the one that lapsed last month after six European leagues backed out.

Russia had withdrawn three years ago.

The group will also look at plans to globalize the game, including holding a World Cup in 2012.

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

News and notes

A couple things from this afternoon…

— The Erik Ersberg arbitration situation does deal with Ersberg’s desire for a one-way (NHL) contract rather than a two-way contract. The Kings want the flexibility to move him back and forth if needed and Ersberg wants a NHL contract. So the arbitrator will decide.

— Still no concern that an O’Sullivan deal won’t get done, as far as the Kings are concerned. In their view, things are progressing as normal.

— The Kings did not make an offer for Brendan Morrison, as had been widely reported. That whole thing really didn’t make any sense to begin with.

— Thomas Hickey was on the roller rink today doing some passing drills. He said he’s getting the pins out of his ankle next week and should be ready to go for training camp. I’ll have the full interview with him later.

— This is no surprise, but if the Kings are to add a defenseman at this point, it will be via trade. There is one name that has come up, but discussions aren’t yet serious. There will be more movement on this front when training camp gets closer.

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Justin Azevedo interview

Here’s an interview, after today’s morning session, with Justin Azevedo, the Kings’ sixth-round draft pick this year. Azevedo has attracted some attention after being named the Ontario Hockey League’s most outstanding player. He had 43 goals and 81 assists in 67 games last season with Kitchener. I’ll be heading down to the camp this afternoon to check it out in person and grab some more interviews. For now, here’s Azevedo…
Continue reading “Justin Azevedo interview” »

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Reading affiliation changes

The Reading Royals will no longer be affiliated with the Kings and will now be the ECHL affiliate of the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Kings will turn to the new Ontario Reign as their sole ECHL affiliate. AEG owns a part of the Royals and in March, Luc Robitaille said the Royals would remain the Kings’ primary ECHL affiliate, despite the addition of Ontario. At the same time, however, the Royals’ general manager, Gordon Kaye, said somewhat cryptically, “(W)e are always going to look out for what is best for our team, our organization and our fans.” It would seem that, with the emergence of the Reign right in the Kings’ backyard, the Royals saw this move as being best for the organization.

UPDATE: The Royals’ press release indicates… “The Los Angeles Kings of the NHL and the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL, who have served as the Royals’ affiliates for the past seven seasons, will continue in a participating affiliation relationship with Reading.” Sounds as though there might be a few Kings-related players still in Reading.

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Arbitration case

As some have asked, the Kings are indeed taking goalie Erik Ersberg to arbitration, unless they come to an agreement over the next 10 days or so. I haven’t gotten a firm explanation on this one just yet — I should later today — but I’m almost certain that the Kings are seeking a two-way deal, so that Ersberg could be sent back and forth between the NHL and the minors. Most likely, the Kings’ qualifying offer was a two-way deal and, not surprisingly, Ersberg would prefer a one-way deal. I’ll get this confirmed later…

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email

Jamie Kompon talks camp

i-1092c7047f444e493f02ae31dde45ff1-Kompon.jpg

I had a chance to talk with Kings assistant coach Jamie Kompon, who is essentially in charge of the prospects camp, about how things went on the first day. To answer a couple questions, Russian draft picks Vjateslav Voinov and Andrei Loktionov were not there because of visa issues, Kompon said. He expects them to be there by the weekend at the latest. All other players were present. Here’s what Kompon had to say…
Continue reading “Jamie Kompon talks camp” »

Facebook Twitter Plusone Digg Reddit Stumbleupon Tumblr Email