Solomon interview
Here's the full interview with Jeff Solomon, the Kings' director of hockey operations and legal affairs, in which he discusses Patrick O'Sullivan and the restricted free agents in general, plus his thoughts about the amount of spending that is taking place around the league, particularly in terms of young players. For those who aren't familiar with Solomon, his bio is available here.
Here's the interview...
On the negotiations with O'Sullivan and whether progress is being made...
``The one thing I can tell you, unequivocally, is that we want to have this guy here as part of our young core. This (contract) is something that I don't envision much of a problem with. Probably the only delay to date just has been trying to get a handle on where this ever-evolving market continues to take us. Especially in the case of these young guys, there's been a lot of activity. So I'm actually going to start talking more seriously to his agent about where we go here, what their plan is and what their ideas might be, and then we'll try to figure out a game plan at that point. Up to this point, there's been so much on everyone's plate that we haven't really had a chance to sit down and go through it together. We've just kind of worked on it ourselves and now I'm ready to sit down and talk with those guys.''
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On whether he expects these serious talks to be relatively easy or potentially difficult...
``I don't anticipate or foresee anything unusual happening here. He's part of our young core so it's imperative that we do our work, to try to make sure that we do things right, for both the club and the player, and that everybody is comfortable. So there's a little upfront work involved in that and I think we've got a pretty good handle on that now and I think it's time to sit down and get some direction from their group, as to where they see things. But I think it will just progress on a normal track.''
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Does he work on those RFAs all at once, or is it one after the other?
``I think we're going to take a hard look at Stoll as well here in the next few days and get going on that one as well. He's only been part of our group for a week now, so it's been a whirlwind week. Again, I just want to get a feel from their side, where they envision things, and I think we can start to develop a bit of a clear path on it.''
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On the market for young players, the Burke vs. Lowe battle and how much things have changed on the market...
``I think it's dramatically different, but I'm not quite sure... I think there's a number of factors that have contributed to it. More than anything, it's probably the fact that players become unrestricted free agents at a much younger age. That creates a little bit more of a sense of urgency, to try to get a handle on where you think these young players are going to sit in a couple years, developmentally. Then, sort of attach a value to that is where things get a little tricky. I'm not certain that offer sheets, that Burkie is sort of alledging, is the main culprit to his... the way he views it, the elimination of the second contract. I think, to a certain extent, that's probably accurate. There's been an elimination for a certain group of, I'd say, young core players, but I'm not quite certain that an offer sheet is the sole factor that's attributable to that. Like I said, I think the early UFA age caused teams to try to get a gauge on a player at perhaps a younger age than we normally would have in the past.''
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With players such as Johnson and Kopitar up for new contracts soon, does he see the market continuing down this path or undergoing some correction?
``I don't know that we'll see any kind of correction, and I'm not sure that one year or two years is considered to be a whole new market. I think it's still in its evolution, to a certain extent, but I think young players that make an immediate impact, the way guys like Kopitar and -- to a certain extent -- Johnson have, we're going to have to take a look at perhaps doing something a little sooner than we normally would have, because it's important to us to have our young core together. So I don't see that changing a whole lot, but I'm not sure that it doesn't have more to do with the younger free-agent age than it does being concerned about offer sheets.''
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On what it's like to balance the present while keeping an eye on the contracts that will need to be handed out in the future...
``I think it's a challenge to all of us who are trying to manage a payroll properly. The market just seems to surprise you at times. Just when you think, perhaps, that the free-agent market, that you have a gauge on it, you'll have a blistering opening like we had this year, with an absolute barrage of signings quickly and then they just keep on coming. Normally we would have some signings here and then there would be that domino effect, but this was just a tremendous reaction and it was so quick and furious. It's hard to determine whether or not we actually have a fixed market in place. It just seems to continute to evolve quickly. It does make it challenging for us as we start to plan going forward. To a certain extent, everything we do is written in pencil now.''
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About Rich Hammond
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.
Sully is a DL player.
After all his crappy free agent signing and questionable trades, no way he'll allow to get away his best acquisition.
By far, his best acquisition.
Thanks again Rich. It's sort of relieving on the Sulli front.
Thanks Rich for all the work, I've been a long time reader but I decided to finally come on and say thanks for all your work. You are really spoiling us Kings fans.
Was Solomon asked about how much the Kings plan to spend? I mean, he talks about increased contracts and how tricky it can be, but the Kings are so far under the cap that it certainly isn't a concern on that end. Understandably asking if AEG willing to spend what it takes to make a winning organization is a touchy subject, but is there any insight to what the Kings cap is? I know it's not the league cap.
So, what that means is that they haven't begun negotiating. Solomon is smooth. Like Lombardi he uses lots of words but doesn't say much.
Rich, can you ask Dean why TSN is reporting that he made Brendan Morrison an offer? How in the world does THAT fit into the Kings plans?
Reading this interview eases some of my concern. He talks the talk... and now we wait and see if he backs that up.
Defintely glad to hear it from the man carrying out the orders that (may or may not) come down from AEG to Lombardi and then to Solomon who goes to the agents. If he's so confident in reiterating that Sully, Kopi and JJ are priorities to keep around, I'm happy. I can see the logic in the Kings wanting to evaluate and let the frenzhy die down and base their decisions on the wreckage of signings around the league, as opposed to setting the trends. Can easily be seen as cheap, in which their is some truth, but it strikes more of being thrifty or, hopefully patient and wise.
We can't complain about players inflated signings this season (Vrbata, Finger, Nolan today in my opinion, Ryder, Stajan, etc) and then turn around and whine that the Kings haven't jumped at any contracts like that. DL made that mistake last year with Handzus and now we are seeing the rest of the league do the exact same thing. I bet this time next season there are going to be many unhappy fans in other cities because of what happened last week. Perhaps Lombardi predicted the market last year and jumped the gun and is now waiting because he isn't going to screw it up again. Or maybe I'm daydreaming.
Back to the original point though, I did not particularly read Solomon's directives to be along the lines of "don't spend more than this on this guy, or try and low ball him to death and if he doesn't budge walk away," which is what we worrying about coming down from AEG. I more got the sense from his not-saying-much-but-speaking-a-lot-jargon-that-nearly-everyone-in-or-around-his-field-has-when-dealing-with-the-press that the teams view is more along the lines of "Don't panic and throw (and potentially waste) our money too soon. Instead see what's reasonable, what we know we can get them at because only an insane GM would pay them more. Then, make it happen and keep them here.
I hope I'm reading in to him correctly. Maybe there isn't anything to read in to... dang lawyers talking jive, yes jive! I want some action!.. but that's only my impatience. Here's to crossing my fingers and wishing for the best... a 2012 stanley cup championship with Kopi, Brown, Sully, JJ, Hickey, Doughty and Tuebert tearing it up in front of Bernier.
Apologies for the long post... not just a slow week for the Kings, if you know what I mean.
Thanks Rich. LA loves you.
It looks like the DUCKS got Morrison and not the Kings...
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=242774&lid=headline&lpos=secStory_nhl
Rich,
I don't mean to continue to beat a dead horse, but this interview is a shining example of why this blog ROCKS!
I'm feeling pretty confident about O'Sullivan getting locked up long term now. It will be interesting to see what transpires with Stoll. He's got a lot to prove, but he is still young enough to be a part of the core.
Sully's contract isnt going to be overwhelming. I cant wait till they sign kopitar long term and see how much they are going to give him. Rich your the greatest ever! Without you I would consider suicide during the offseason.
thanks rich, you rock!!
Ok, don't get me wrong, this blog rocks. Like, a lot. I come here almost as often as I check my email, which is about every ten minutes.
That said, do you just not have anything else to do? I'm thrilled to be one of the (many) beneficiaries of your unrelenting journalism, but seriously! You posted all over the holiday weekend, you post late at night, early in the morning, all the time. Are you ever NOT working?
All this to say, this blog rocks. You rock. Don rocks. All other people who may or may not have some hand in making this blog rock. And even the Kings organization, who are clearly giving Rich some pretty decent access rock. (Their results on the ice are another thing entirely...)
I agree w/ you, Stu. This guy is a smoothe talker w/o much substance. Everyone seems to be talking the AEG line and being lawyers helps w/ the quantity spoken w/o quality. I don't believe anything this guy says. Wasn't Vish locked up for 5 years to be part of and mentor the "core"? I'm actually tired of that overused word that means nothing. Everyone on the team is expandable, it's just a matter of when Dean's gut tells him to trade, or better yet Big Brother.
I don't see how this can make you guys feel more confident about this team. They're just NOW starting negotiations with O'Sullivan?? I guarantee there are other teams that have offer sheets ready to be presented.
And what about Stoll? And Ersberg? And that free agent defenseman they were supposed to sign? And that "bridge" goalie?
I used to be hard on Dave Taylor because I felt he ran this team into the ground by destroying our prospect depth to acquire veterans. But as each day under Dean Lombardi goes by, Taylor looks better and better.
Someone go find Lombardi on the golf course and tell him that it's July!
Oh, and I almost forgot! We're the only team in the NHL without a head coach! Is Dean Lombardi gonna coach this team??
Rich,
You previously answered my question about the Kings not being interested in UFA forwards. Have you had a chance to read the TSN story about Brendan Morrison to the Ducks? It says "Morrison has turned down offers from 9 teams" and lists the Kings as one of them.
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=242774&lid=sublink01&lpos=headlines_main
What do you make of this? I would have thought if anything the Kings would look to add a center, but perhaps there is more to this story such as trying to get Handzus to waive his no trade clause?
When other teams talk about long-term contracts they seem to think in terms of 8, 9, or 10 years, eliminating the 2nd contract. Mike Richards is an example of this. It seems like Dean thinks long-term is more like 6 years (similar to the Dustin Brown contract). I wonder how long Sully's will be.
While I would never claim to have anything close to the hockey knowledge of the people running the Kings (except AEG)and any of the other NHL teams, common sense tells me that Lombardi and staff are going about signing these RFA's with the future in mind. Sure we can throw a boatload of money at Sully and sign him today, the Cap is not an issue this year, but next year and the years after that when all these stud prospects come up for their second contracts, the Cap will be an issue and how much we signed RFA's for this year will matter in who we can keep and who we can't. The Pens couldn't keep Malone, the Sens couldn't keep Chara, the Ducks had to trade McDonald for a one year guy, Weight...that didn't turn out so good for Burke. Look at Buffalo's dump of Briere, Drury and Campbell, they couldn't afford them all. With proper planning, maybe the Kings can keep all these prospects in the future should they turn into great players and are signed to fiscally responsible contracts. We all know Kopitar, Johnson, Doughty and Bernier are going to demand big bucks should their potential be reached. Let's also not forget Hickey, Lewis, Simmonds, Moller, Teubert, Purcell & Boyle who all look to be good players coming along.
The signing of these players and working with the Cap system is not as cut and dried and easy as most of the posters on this blog seem to feel, I applaud management for trying to get this right. Again, this team is being built for the future and success for the long term.
Dave Taylor had a mandate from AEG to get the Kings to the playoffs which he did in the early 2000's and the team suffered some terrible injury problems late in Murray's reign, but the team was never built looking towards the future which wasn't Taylor's fault, in fact he left some pretty good draft picks for Lombardi.
I am as disappointed as anybody when we lose, but I look forward to a great future for the Kings.
Don't you get the feeling that DL's and Solomon's day begins at about 10:00 and after a cup of coffee they need to talk about where to go for lunch. Then they need to read the paper and hockey web sites and then, whoa! its almost 2:30 so its time to pack it up for another day.
With regards to Morrison, the Kings most likely made a conservative offer to test the waters early last week. After it became clear he was aggressively being pursued by several clubs, my guess is DL lost interest.
Brendan Morrison has always been a tough competitor and "go to" type player but we don't need to taking MORE chances on a guy coming off a season truncated by (knee & wrist) injuries. No thank you!
Rich:
You continue to astound and please us all with your incredible journalism access and reporting. I can't imagine another NHL team giving anyone such open information on such minute details. Thank you!
Now as far as our contract strategy of waiting, analysis paralysis, etc., It seems to me we are BLOWING it. We are like buying stocks AFTER the prices have run up, when they could have been bought and secured for less $'s earlier. This also just delays our strategy of what to do next, like the no Rob Blake situation. We just end up being late to the dance to fill the necessary holes with bad remaining leftovers. We need an aggressive shark in our legal contracts group, and I don't see Solomon necessarily fitting the bill, and yet Dean puts him solely in charge to do so.
I am not digging the method, and I fear the results.
To: Not Impressed
No.. not at all. Sounds to me like they are focused on doing things right for the long term and not rushing to get stuff done and overpaying for it. Seems like they actually take time to prepare and plan rather than just jumping in without looking at the big picture. This strategy is going to lose us some greedy guys like Blake, but leave us in better shape to keep the long term assets of this team in LA.
To SD:
I say I get the feeling DL and Solomon are doing nothing because while all the other GMs are multi-tasking DL says he can't look for a coach because he is busy with FA. Really? And what has he done with FA, nothing. He also said negotiations with Sully are coming along, yet Solomon hasn't even started. I JUST WANT TO KNOW WHAT IT IS THEY ARE DOING WHILE NOTHING GETS DONE! As far as waiting to do things right for the long term, read "Brian in HB" comments.
Okay, if we can all agree on one thing its that WE WANT our 'core', however you want to define it, around here for a long time. Kopi, JJ, Sully, eventually Doughty, most likely Hickey, Tuebert, Martinez, Bernier, Ersberg or whichever two goalies emerge, Holloway, Simmonds, Moller, etc. We would like to keep these guy. If anything, you want to keep them all around so that if you end up with too many of the same type of good player, they are great trade bait and lures for FA's to lay with in the future.
Okay, now let's see if we can agree on this: Signing anyone to a multi-year multi-million contract very well could directly get in the way of keeping the core together.
Now, here's a list of UFA's who accepted one year offers this signing period thus far:
Bertuzzi, Weight, Kalinin, Cujo, Blake, David Koci, Yann Danis, Fedetenko, Satan, Conklin, Hossa, Roenick, Matt Walker, Denis, Roberts, Raycroft, Sanford, Kolzig.
Everyone else signed for two or more seasons. Now, outside of Hossa (who we all know wouldn't come here for $10 mill) and maaaaaaaaaaaaybe Kalinin, who do we really want of those players willing to sign for one year. Everyone else got huge contracts we wouldn't want. Yeah, Bert is gonna save the Kings. Cujo will lead us to a cup. Roberts will score 100 points. Koci will... wait, who the hell is he anyways?
See my point?
Brian in HB - Who exactly did other GM's get a deal on per your stock anology? The market gets set with initial signings... it doesn't fluctuate on a daily basis like the stock market.
Everyone else - Not that I have anything substantial to back this up with, but hasn't it occurred to anyone that there are several other tasks a GM deals with besides UFA's, RFA's and hiring a coach. They are very big, important tasks indeed... but are you seriously worried that game 1 of the 08-09 season will start and that there will be no head coach behind the bench? DL is also President, which I don't believe all GM's are (tell me if I'm wrong here), which I imagine leaves him with many mor responsibilities.
My point is that just because he hasn't hired the first coach to walk in, or sign Mark Streit to a 6 year contract (as an example), or jumped the gun on signing our RFA's when there really is no rush because we retain their rights (BTW most teams have several RFA's that remain unsigned or are headed to the arbiter) does not mean that DL hasn't been doing anything. Perhaps he's working on the parking....
haha, I wish.
DL is the problem period