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Los Angeles Kings Blogger •
Dean Lombardi is not done tinkering.
He admitted he missed out last season on Orpik and wasn't about to let it happen again with Rob Scuderi. "When you're talking about offers, it's not just the money. It's cost of living in L.A. and it's taxes. If you're offering $500,000 more, it's really not that much when you look at everything. So we knew we had to blow Pittsburgh out of the water, but we wanted this guy. He has a ring and there are no questions at all about his character.'', he told The Daily News' Rich Hammond.
One down, a scoring winger to go:
Alexi Kovalev is a playmaker, no doubt about it, but Pierre LeBrun got it right this morning when he said "as of late afternoon Thursday, the Kings had not touched base with the Kovalev camp, and another source told ESPN.com the team was not interested in Kovalev's services".
He's not the "fit" Lombardi is looking for.
Everyone loves to mention Ryan Smyth, but with a hefty 6.25 cap hit and reportedly needing plenty of hand holding, he's another palyer, as gritty as he is, isn't quite the "fit".
Alex Tanguay is another solid left winger coming off an injury plagued season in Montreal. I highly doubt his agent is going to LOWER his 5.35 per year demand and that will scare off most teams including the Kings. He SHOULD be what the Kings are after, but certainly not for more than 2 years.
Which leads me right back to the player I've been saying all along Lombardi should bring to the Kings. Marco Sturm. Lombardi loved him in S.J., certainly knows his "character" and with Boston about to be salary handicapped by signing RFA Phil Kessel which will push their payroll to 56 million, taking back a high draft pick and Teddy Purcell or Oscar Moller would make sense to the Kings (maybe not to Boston). Sturm is a perfect compliment to Stoll and Frolov and can also be paired with Kopitar and Brown/Williams.
It just makes too much sense.
Then again, with Williams in the lineup, Lombardi can opt to see how training camp goes with newly signed college free agents Patrick Mullen (Joey's kid) and Corey Elkins.
Lombardi still needs to get "tougher" and I'm surprised the press release for Travis Moen hasn't come across the wires yet. Is he asking for too many years? He is an absolute perfect compliment to the Simmonds/Handzus line, won't cost a lot, replaces the character lost with the departure of Derek Armstrong, and... (drum roll), he's won a cup. Talk about a solid locker room!
On the other hand, if Lombardi is looking to add some more skill, he'll opt to bring back another player he drafted in Mikael Samuelsson, who puts up decent numbers, is responsible, good in the locker room, and not terribly expensive.
Update: Samuelsson signed with Vancouver this morning
I see a trade rather than a signing. The Kings finally have some assets they can use to make a deal... and take some of your payroll :)
Stay safe this 4th of July.
He admitted he missed out last season on Orpik and wasn't about to let it happen again with Rob Scuderi. "When you're talking about offers, it's not just the money. It's cost of living in L.A. and it's taxes. If you're offering $500,000 more, it's really not that much when you look at everything. So we knew we had to blow Pittsburgh out of the water, but we wanted this guy. He has a ring and there are no questions at all about his character.'', he told The Daily News' Rich Hammond.
One down, a scoring winger to go:
Alexi Kovalev is a playmaker, no doubt about it, but Pierre LeBrun got it right this morning when he said "as of late afternoon Thursday, the Kings had not touched base with the Kovalev camp, and another source told ESPN.com the team was not interested in Kovalev's services".
He's not the "fit" Lombardi is looking for.
Everyone loves to mention Ryan Smyth, but with a hefty 6.25 cap hit and reportedly needing plenty of hand holding, he's another palyer, as gritty as he is, isn't quite the "fit".
Alex Tanguay is another solid left winger coming off an injury plagued season in Montreal. I highly doubt his agent is going to LOWER his 5.35 per year demand and that will scare off most teams including the Kings. He SHOULD be what the Kings are after, but certainly not for more than 2 years.
Which leads me right back to the player I've been saying all along Lombardi should bring to the Kings. Marco Sturm. Lombardi loved him in S.J., certainly knows his "character" and with Boston about to be salary handicapped by signing RFA Phil Kessel which will push their payroll to 56 million, taking back a high draft pick and Teddy Purcell or Oscar Moller would make sense to the Kings (maybe not to Boston). Sturm is a perfect compliment to Stoll and Frolov and can also be paired with Kopitar and Brown/Williams.
It just makes too much sense.
Then again, with Williams in the lineup, Lombardi can opt to see how training camp goes with newly signed college free agents Patrick Mullen (Joey's kid) and Corey Elkins.
Lombardi still needs to get "tougher" and I'm surprised the press release for Travis Moen hasn't come across the wires yet. Is he asking for too many years? He is an absolute perfect compliment to the Simmonds/Handzus line, won't cost a lot, replaces the character lost with the departure of Derek Armstrong, and... (drum roll), he's won a cup. Talk about a solid locker room!
On the other hand, if Lombardi is looking to add some more skill, he'll opt to bring back another player he drafted in Mikael Samuelsson, who puts up decent numbers, is responsible, good in the locker room, and not terribly expensive.
Update: Samuelsson signed with Vancouver this morning
I see a trade rather than a signing. The Kings finally have some assets they can use to make a deal... and take some of your payroll :)
Stay safe this 4th of July.
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