Lewis, six others re-sign.

Restricted free-agent forward Trevor Lewis re-signed with the Kings on Friday. His two-year deal pays a reported $1.45 million.

The announcement came with little surprise one day after general manager Dean Lombardi said a new contract was “close.” Lewis had only three goals and 13 points in 72 games last season, his first full year in the NHL. But he was hard to take out of the lineup because of his speed — a rare commodity on last year’s squad — and penalty-killing value. Lewis also had a goal and four points in the Kings’ six-game playoff series against San Jose.

Lewis can play either center or the wing, and figures to compete with Andrei Loktionov for the fourth-line center position in training camp.

The Kings also announced the signings of forwards Marc-Andre Cliche, Rich Clune and David Meckler, defensemen Andrew Campbell and Patrick Mullen, and goaltender Jeff Zatkoff. All six players spent the entire season in Manchester and were restricted free agents.

One player who won’t be returning to the Monarchs is Corey Elkins. The agent for the restricted free-agent forward wrote on Twitter that Elkins could be headed to Europe for a year and won’t re-sign with the Kings. Elkins had 18 goals and 44 points in 76 games for Manchester last season, after posting 21 goals and 43 points in 72 games the year before. Signed as a free agent out of Ohio State University, Elkins had one goal in three games with the Kings, all in 2009-10.

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Clune interview

It’s a shame that Richard Clune is now out with a broken bone in his chest, as he was just starting to develop some positive buzz in training camp. From talking to people around camp, it didn’t seem to be a huge stretch to think that Clune might crack the NHL roster as that third- or fourth-line agitator/tough guy. I talked with Clune about the trade that brought him over from Dallas, and he also had some very interesting things to say about the somewhat-obvious comparisons to Sean Avery.

Clune, a third-round pick of Dallas in 2005, split time between the AHL and ECHL last season. In 38 games with Iowa of the AHL, Clune had three goals, five assists and 137 penalty minutes.

Plus, thanks to the wonder of YouTube, here are videos of Clune’s three preseason fights. The first one is from the first day of training camp, against Drew Bagnall. The other two are from Monday’s game against Phoenix, against Todd Fedoruk and Garth Murray.

Click after the videos to read the interview…


Continue reading “Clune interview” »

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Tukonen traded

For those who haven’t seen it already, the Kings today traded winger Lauri Tukonen to Dallas for winger Richard Clune.

It seemed increasingly clear that Tukonen had fallen out of the Kings’ plans. Here’s what the Kings’ press release had to say about Clune:

Clune, 21, was selected by Dallas in the third round (71st overall) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He played in 38 games with the Iowa Stars of the American Hockey League (AHL) this past season and recorded eight points (3-5=8) while finishing second on the club with 137 penalty minutes. Clune, a 6-0, 195-pound native of Toronto, also skated in 19 games with the ECHL’s Idaho Steelheads this past season and registered 10 points (1-9=10) and 41 penalty minutes.

Clune finished third on his team in goals (32), assists (46) and points (78) and led his club in penalty minutes (151) while skating with the Ontario Hockey League’s (OHL) Barrie Colts during the 2006-07 season. He also led the Colts in postseason scoring with seven points (3-4=7) and eight penalty minutes in eight playoff games that year. In addition, Clune appeared in one game with the Iowa Stars that same season, recording two penalty minutes.

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