LA Kings Sign Prospect Joe Piskula, Announce 2009-10 Schedule

EL SEGUNDO, CA — On July 15, the Los Angeles Kings signed defenseman prospect Joe Piskula to a one-year contract. The Kings, along with the National Hockey League, also announced their 2009-10 regular season schedule. Read the rest of this entry »

Los Angeles Kings: Getting Physical At Development Camp

EL SEGUNDO, CA — The Los Angeles Kings 2009 Development Camp for their young prospects, which ended on July 12, was rather different from camps held in previous years for several reasons.

One was the fact that only three days of the week-long camp were open to the public and the media to allow the young players to better focus on the task at hand.

But another more striking reason was that compared to previous camps, there seemed to be a greater intensity during both the scrimmages and the practice sessions and much of that may have been due to the fact that the Kings have brought in a number of prospects who not only are capable of playing a physical brand of hockey, but their toughness and fierce, competitive nature extends into their psyche as well, something that has been somewhat lacking throughout the Kings’ system.

One such player is their first round pick (fifth overall) in the 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft, Brayden Schenn, a wet-behind-the-ears seventeen-year-old center from Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Read the rest of this entry »

New On HockeyTalk: Hickey And Teubert Show Improvement At LA Kings Development Camp

EL SEGUNDO, CA — Last summer, Los Angeles Kings defenseman prospect Thomas Hickey was in Southern California for the team’s annual development camp for their young prospects. But for him, the camp was filled with off-ice training and exercises and a lot of watching from the bench.

Indeed, Hickey ended up spending last year’s development camp off the ice and on crutches due to off-season surgery to repair a torn ankle ligament. But one year later, he was on the ice at the Kings’ 2009 development camp and was a standout among the defensemen. Read the rest of this entry »

LA Kings Sign AHL Forward Brandon Segal

EL SEGUNDO, CA — On July 13, the Los Angeles Kings signed right wing Brandon Segal to a two-year contract. Read the rest of this entry »

Los Angeles Kings: Jonathan Bernier Is Growing Up

EL SEGUNDO, CA — About this time last year, highly-touted Los Angeles Kings goaltending prospect Jonathan Bernier showed up at the Kings annual development camp for their young prospects with a bit of a chip on his shoulder.

During last year’s development camp, I asked Bernier how he would feel if the Kings decided to send him to the minors even if he performed well at their 2008 training camp.

“I’ll be mad, really mad,” said the very confident, if not brash, young goaltending prospect. Read the rest of this entry »

LA Kings Ink Prospect Scott Parse, Announce Rookie Tournament Schedule

EL SEGUNDO, CA — On July 9, the Los Angeles Kings announced that they have signed forward prospect Scott Parse to a one-year contract.

Financial terms were not disclosed.

Parse, 25, scored fifteen goals and added 24 assists for 39 points with a +6 plus/minus rating and 38 penalty minutes this past season for the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, the Kings’ primary minor league affiliate. Read the rest of this entry »

July 1 Was The Time For Dean Lombardi To Gamble

COMMENTARY: Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi filled a hole on July 2 with the signing of unrestricted free agent defenseman Rob Scuderi but still has a huge, gaping hole to fill on left wing. Should he have gambled on one of the top free agents on July 1?


LOS ANGELES — After day two of the National Hockey League’s annual feeding frenzy, otherwise known as the first couple of days when teams can sign unrestricted free agents, the Los Angeles Kings have filled a need on their blue line.

On July 2, they agreed to terms with veteran defenseman Rob Scuderi, 30, who just won the Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins, to a four-year deal that is reported to be worth $13.6 million, an average of $3.4 million per season—a nice raise from the $725,000 he earned last season.

The 6-0, 218-pound defenseman scored a goal and added fifteen assists for sixteen points with a +23 plus/minus rating and eighteen penalty minutes in a career-high 81 regular season games last season.

In the playoffs, Scuderi scored a goal and tallied four assists for five points with six penalty minutes in 24 games, averaging 20:29 of ice time. Read the rest of this entry »

LA Kings 2009 Draft Goes As Planned

LOS ANGELES — The National Hockey League completed its 2009 Entry Draft on Saturday in Montreal and just like on Friday, there were no major surprises from the Los Angeles Kings, who selected nine players in rounds 2-7 and were involved in four minor trades.

One of those trades sent center Brian Boyle (photo at left; courtesy Los Angeles Kings) to the New York Rangers in exchange for the Rangers’ third round pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.

In 28 games with the Kings this past season, the 24-year-old native of Hingham, Massachusetts scored four goals and added an assist with 42 penalty minutes. But he shuttled back and forth between Los Angeles and the Kings’ primary minor league affiliate, the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, where he scored ten goals and added eleven assists for 21 points with 73 penalty minutes in 42 games. Read the rest of this entry »

Scouting And Development Are Cornerstones To Dean Lombardi’s Efforts

INTERVIEW WITH DEAN LOMBARDI: In the fifth and final installment of this series based on an in-depth interview with Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi, we take a close look at two of the Kings’ 2008 draft picks along with their scouting and development infrastructure. We also get a bit of insight into what Lombardi thinks going into the 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft.


EL SEGUNDO, CA — With the 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft beginning tonight in Montreal, the brain trust of the Los Angeles Kings, including President/General Manager Dean Lombardi, are going over their lists with the proverbial fine tooth comb, projecting who might be available when their turn, the fifth overall selection, comes around, along with what kind of trades might be out there for them to get in on.

But before Frozen Royalty looks ahead to the 2009 draft, let’s take a step back and look at a couple of 2008 Kings draft picks who were big surprises this past season, in more ways than one.

Indeed, defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov (photo at right, courtesy Manchester Monarchs), who was selected in the second round, 32nd overall, and center Andrei Loktionov, a fifth round pick, 123rd overall, were big surprises on a couple of levels. Read the rest of this entry »

New On HockeyTalk: Dean Lombardi: Los Angeles Kings Are Ahead Of Schedule

INTERVIEW WITH DEAN LOMBARDI: In part 2 of this series, Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi talks about the progress the Kings have made in their rebuilding efforts. Look for part 3 of this series right here on Frozen Royalty coming soon.


EL SEGUNDO, CA — When Dean Lombardi became President/General Manager of the Los Angeles Kings on April 21, 2006, he took command of a sinking ship.

His National Hockey League lineup had a bit of talent, but it was one of the oldest in the league and was not good enough to make the playoffs. The rest of the Kings’ system was mostly devoid of young talent, the result of the Kings mismanaging assets from the big club to the minor and junior leagues.

Indeed, the ship was sinking fast. You could even say it was already starting to go down by the bow.

Lombardi quickly realized that drastic changes were necessary in order to save the ship and in just a little over three years, the Kings went from one of the oldest teams in the league to one of the youngest. Their system went from one that had almost no legitimate prospects to one with about a dozen prospects that other NHL general managers have coveted. Read the rest of this entry »

What Would You Ask LA Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi?

On Saturday, I will be talking extensively with Los Angeles Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi in a one-on-one telephone interview.

Although I already have a list of questions for him, chances are good that I’ve missed something that “inquiring minds want to know.” Read the rest of this entry »

Los Angeles Kings: Has Brian Boyle Figured It Out?

LOS ANGELES — To say that 2008-09 has been an up-and-down season for Los Angeles Kings center Brian Boyle would certainly be an understatement. Read the rest of this entry »

Stoll Out With Groin Injury; Kings Recall Brian Boyle

EL SEGUNDO, CA — On March 27, the Los Angeles Kings announced that center Jarret Stoll will miss the team’s remaining regular season games due to a groin injury. To replace Stoll, center Brian Boyle has been recalled from the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, their primary minor league affiliate. Read the rest of this entry »

New On HockeyTalk: LA Kings Developing Two Goalie Prospects Locally

ONTARIO, CA — As young goaltenders Jonathan Quick and Erik Ersberg show promise in handling the goaltending chores for the Los Angeles Kings, and with Jonathan Bernier and Daniel Taylor developing their netminder skills with the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, the Kings now have two more young goaltending prospects honing their skills right here in Southern California.

Jeff Zatkoff and Linden Rowat are backstopping the Ontario Reign, the Kings’ ECHL affiliate. Read the rest of this entry »

Frolov Hurt, Westgarth Returns to Manchester

EL SEGUNDO, CA – On March 23, the Los Angeles Kings assigned forward/enforcer Kevin Westgarth to the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League and announced that winger Alexander Frolov will miss the next 7-10 days due to an undisclosed upper body injury. Read the rest of this entry »