Down to 35

#8 is all yours Mr. Drew Doughty. I wonder if they did that on purpose? Aaron Miller was let go in good timing for JMFJ to take over #3. Cheers. Safe journey Matt Ellis.

I liked Ellis, but I don't think there was any room for him on this team this year. I hope he does well with Buffalo.

I'm just guessing here but I think the roster is going to be

Forwards:

Brown, Kopi, O'sullivan (assuming we get his contract worked out)

Fro, Stolly, Purcell

Moeller, Handzus, Simmonds

Moulson, Boyle, Ivanans

Army, Richardson

Defence:

JMFJ, Greene

O'd, Doughty

Gauthier, Preising

Harold

Goal:

Labs, Eberg

WTF!!!!!! &$^%#%&*&^#%%@$*#!$^&*()*&^^&^!!!

Okay, I'm over it. I guess that says something about what DL/TM think of Simmonds and/or Richardson. Still, darn it all, I'm not quite over it. I liked Ellis.

When Ellis was claimed from the Red Wings, DL was very high on him. Stating that his backround with a winning team (Wings) would help the Kings Organization.
Now he's gone just like that.
Go figure.
With all his flip flops, he should have been a politician - not a GM.

Oh yay! Anthony's back.

I called this a couple days ago, saying Ellis would be cut before Richardson. Not that I think Richardson will be cut.

I should've pretended I had inside sources...

So, they couldn't make room for him in Manchester? Waiving Ellis seems like an odd move.

Trying to send Ellis to Manchester IS waiving him.

Irishpat - I imagine Ellis had to clear waivers to make it to Manchester

Pat, they were trying to send him to Manchester. He would have had to clear waivers, but Buffalo picked him up instead.

Thanks for the clarity. How does Ellis not have a two-way contract?

Let's face it. Ellis was a good guy, but there is no room for him here. I would rather see one of the kids get a chance to skate than another checking forward.

Well, Ellis is also a kid, right? I don't have a problem with Simmonds beating him out, or even Richardson. I will grind my teeth, however, every time I see Calder or Armstrong on the ice. I know, I know, veteran presence, blah blah blah, I just prefer Ellis to either of those guys.

For now, I choose to look at the Ellis thing as good news for Moller and Simmonds and Richardson.

Irish Pat, I was thinking the same thing. Why wouldn't they send him to Manchester or at least pick up another draft pick. I know it would be a late round one, but still.

Atomic Steve, listed his prediction above, on our four lines. Others have guessed similar lines.

Here's the problem, Purcell, Moeller, Simmonds, Moulson and Boyle are all rookies. Five out of twelve, maybe even six of twelve, if POS decides not to sign, are rookies. This worries me...no this down right scares me.

Blending in talent is a must, but not all at the same time. If DL thinks these kids can play at NHL intensity all year, he's crazy. 82 games with the worlds best, every night, is hard enough for guys that know what to expect. Most these guys won't be productive at the mid way point, due to injuries or just running out of gas, or both. This to me, makes the Ellis thing questionable.

I predict the opposite of most, including Rich. I think the Kings will come out with tons of piss and vinegar and win games at the beginning of the year, and not at the end. Then the kids will lose all that adrenaline, and the fear or excitement of making the big club, and reality of 82 NHL games will stat to take it's toll. This is why I'm a little confused about the Ellis situation

We picked Ellis off of waivers last year. If any other team placed a claim on him, we would have to offer him to that team. Don't know if that is the situation here, but it makes it more difficult to trade him.

And two-way contracts have nothing to do with it, after a certain age and games played, a player is subject to waivers if a club wants to send him down.

Ellis's are everywhere, career minor leaguers who play 4th line checkers when there bought up, no real upside. I was at last nights game and wasn't very impressed. Kopi, Brown, Doughty, Labarbera, Simmonds stood out. Greene, Moulson, Loktionov, Gauthier solid play. Boyle slow, and showed no aggressiveness and couldn't hold the puck against 4ft tall Kunitz. Stoll average. Purcell good quickness but again continues to get pushed of the puck. Moller shows great potential, but might need another year. Drewiske also show potential and poise. I like him better than Harold defensively. Its going to be a long year.

Ellis is going into his 7th year as a pro. He has spent most of his career in the minors, but he is not a "kid" therefore he must clear waivers to be assigned to Manchester. I like Ellis, but he's not a player to bank on, the Kings are going to give one of the "kids" a shot on our roster this year.

I think my dad will be devastated since he won Ellis' jersey off his back last season.

Just read the posts on Ellis trying to get to Manchester, makes more sense. That's to bad we could have used him.

Duckhunter, I agree, but I'm guessing the coaches just saw more potential in guys like Richardson and Simmonds.

Meh. Now Doughty can have #8... face it there was more upside to others...

But he just arrived! Somewhat disappointing as I wanted to see him in action some more, but such is the system.

Probably all the young guns have as much or more potential than Ellis, but I don't think it's smart to field a team on literally 40%-45% potential. We have some good young players, I just didn't expects to see them all at the same time.

Duckhunter, I think Moulson, Purcell and Boyle proved themselves in the limited time they played with the big club last season. Sure they are young, but in order for the team to grow together like Deano wants they need to play together, Another year in Manchester isn't going to help any of them at this point. Moeller and Simmonds are the only completly untested (at the NHL level) forwards.

I know there is some overlap with Simmonds, Moulson, et al who have showed a lot of desire to make the team this year - but putting him on waivers surprises me since they know he'd be taken. and all indications were he'd be here this year. I wanted him on the PK this season - reason being, he's an upgrade over Zeiler etc. and we didn't really even get to see what he could do for us in Kings uni last season.

WHY couldn't it have been ZEILER???

Wow all this passion for a fringe player, he's gone so be it. What DL was thinking when he claimed him of waivers from the wings was that he may have found himself a diamond in the ruff, but it turned just another lump of coal, other lumps of coal that come to mind are Nagy, Rob Blake second stint, Dan Cloutier, Alan McCauley and others, Keep on mining DL Keep on mining.

Roger

Cloutier is a lump of something...and it ain't coal... It's nothing a sewage plant can't treat...