Results tagged “Peter Harrold” from Inside the Kings
The Kings have signed restricted free agent defenseman Peter Harrold to a three-year contract. I'll try to get the money on that at some point but I'm still out of the loop this week.
Also... the Kings are not trading Anze Kopitar. Please, folks, just stop this stuff. All you're going to do is give yourselves ulcers. It's just absurd, as are 98.4 percent of all rumors.
PETER HARROLD
This season: 25 games, 2 goals, 3 assists, plus-3 rating.
Positives: Hasn't made any dramatic improvements, but is slowly and surely establishing himself as an NHL defenseman with a solid all-around game. Harrold has displayed good puck movement in the defensive zone during his limited time in the NHL and totaled 43 points in 49 games with Manchester this season, so he has some offensive upside.
Negatives: Size and speed are two of the drawbacks in Harrold's game, but they won't prevent him from being an NHL player. He could stand to get a little stronger, which would help the team's overall toughness, and as he gets more experience, he should be better prepared to deal with the speed of the NHL game.
Looking ahead: Harrold seems likely, in the long term, to settle in as a fourth or fifth defenseman. With Johnson and Visnovsky already in the fold, the Kings need to sign or trade for at least one more strong defenseman to take some of the pressure off Harrold and allow him to thrive as he continues to develop.
Contract situation: Restricted free agent.
I think the assumption was that there would be a couple players headed to Manchester, but Peter Harrold was the only one assigned today. Daniel Taylor got sent to Reading yesterday.
From Don:
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Peter Harrold went from being "the" guy on defense for the Manchester Monarchs, to adding some necessary depth on the Kings' blue line. The 24-year old says he has made the transition, but is still learning the NHL brand of hockey.
"It's a pretty big transition, I mean the game is so much faster here," Harrold said. "I think I'm fitting in pretty well and learning more and more every day. It's important to try and get better every day."
Still, it is kind of strange going from being the quarterback of the Monarchs' power play to suddenly being a depth player for the Kings.
"It's no problem for me. Obviously you want to get to the point where you can be on the power play at this level, but you have to crawl before you can walk," he said. "I'm trying to learn a little more each and every day and when you watch those guys on the power play and try to pick up on the little things that they do so that when I get my chance I know what to do."
Odds are that the depleted defensive unit at Manchester will get an infusion should Harrold be reassigned to the Monarchs following the conclusion of the Kings' season.
"They haven't talked to me about it yet, but I'd like to go back. I like playing in the playoffs and as soon as the season is done here, I hope they send me back," Harrold said. "I pay a lot of attention to what is going on in Manchester. They're my friends that played there all year and most of last year, so I'd love to go down there and help them in the playoffs."
About the bloggers
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.
Jill Painter joined the Daily News in 2000 and during the last eight years she's covered the Dodgers, Cal State Northridge, UCLA, Kings, golf and everything in between. Even though she's from Colorado, she still freezes in the Staples Center press box but always manages to thaw her fingers in time to make deadline. E-mail Jill at jill.painter@dailynews.com.
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