News & Views on the Los Angeles Kings and the National Hockey League by Gann Matsuda
April 1, 2014 3 Comments
LA Kings center Anze Kopitar, shown here during a recent practice.
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net
Indeed, such consideration is overdue by two or three years. In fact, yours truly has voted for Kopitar as a finalist for the Selke Trophy (voted on by members of the Professional Hockey Writers Association) in each of the last three seasons.
July 6, 2013 2 Comments
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENCY – DAY 1: After bidding farewell to Rob Scuderi and Brad Richardson, the Los Angeles Kings welcomed defenseman Jeff Schultz to the team, signing him to a one-year deal on Day 1 of unrestricted free agency.
LA Kings newly-acquired
defenseman Jeff Schultz
Photo courtesy National Hockey League
In the end, family was the deciding factor for the two-time Stanley Cup winner, who will play his second stint with the Penguins, the team he won his first Stanley Cup with in 2009.
“Both [the Kings and the Penguins] have the ability to play deep into the spring,” Scuderi told the media during a conference call. “But Pittsburgh is much closer geographically to where I am from, and I thought at my age, I wasn’t going to get this opportunity again to pull the trigger on something like this.”
Scuderi is a native of Syosset, New York, and has many relatives who reside in New York.
June 26, 2013 1 Comment
Will veteran defenseman Rob Scuderi re-sign with the Los Angeles Kings, or will he try the unrestricted
free agency market again?
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net
After signing defenseman Slava Voynov, and now the Bernier trade, the Kings have $6.64 million in salary cap space available, but they also have nine players remaining on their National Hockey League roster with expiring contracts, including six restricted free agents, and three unrestricted free agents.
For Frozen Royalty’s analysis of what the Kings’ might do with their off-season personnel moves, see Unless Dean Lombardi’s Middle Name Is “Houdini,” 2013-14 LA Kings Will Look At Least A Bit Different.
As stated in that June 18 story, it appears even more likely that unless veteran defenseman Rob Scuderi is willing to accept a salary lower than the $3.4 million he earned this past season, he will not return to the Kings. That said, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi is working on it.
June 19, 2013 3 Comments
LA Kings defenseman Slava Voynov signed a
six-year deal valued at $25 million on June 18, 2013.
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net
On June 18, the Kings signed restricted free agent defenseman Slava Voynov, 23, to a six-year contract that is reported to be worth $25 million, a $4.17 million per season salary cap hit.
The 6-0, 190-pound native of Chelyabinsk, Russia played in all 48 regular season games with the Kings in 2013, scoring six goals and contributing 19 assists for 25 points, setting career-highs in assists and points.
June 18, 2013 8 Comments
LA Kings defenseman Slava Voynov is expected
to receive a pretty hefty raise in a
new contract this summer.
(click above to view larger image)
Photo: David Sheehan/FrozenRoyalty.net
One year later, the Kings advanced as far as the Western Conference Final, but only to be stopped in their tracks by the Chicago Blackhawks. But now, Lombardi is faced with that same challenge of trying to keep his team intact.
But can he? A huge obstacle in his path is the new Collective Bargaining Agreement, which calls for a $64.3 million salary cap in 2013-14, considerably lower than the current $70.2 million.
“It’s unfortunate, the way this Collective Bargaining Agreement worked for us,” Lombardi lamented. “One of the by-products of going slowly was to be able to build this thing, and keep it together. We were clearly on that path, with $6 million in cap space this year, and we brought the whole team back.”
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