Kings Add Scorer in Smyth

With a sudden surplus in defenseman, and a much bigger need for a scoring left-winger, the Kings pulled the trigger on a trade with the Avalanche, sending defensemen Tom Preissing and Kyle Quincy, along with a fifth round draft pick in exchange for Ryan Smyth.

Smyth is a 33-year older who spend the bulk of his 12-year career with Edmonton. A contract dispute in 2007 resulted in him being traded to the Islanders. He signed with Colorado as a free agent after the 2006-2007 season.

Smyth should provide some much-needed scoring for the Kings.

Kings Ink Blue-liner Scuderi

While it's not the signing the Kings had hoped for, they did make a solid splash in the free agent market on Day 2, reaching out to Rob Scuderi, defenseman formerly of the now Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins. Rob Scuderi and the Kings agreed on a four-year deal worth approximately $13.6MM over the duration.

Scuderi isn't what you would call an offensive-minded defenseman, which is just fine with the Kings. What they wanted was another defensive-minded veteran presence at the blue-line to go along with Sean O'Donnell. The Kings feel they have their man.

Meanwhile, a Daily News report says the Kings were very much players on Day 1 yesterday, only to come up short on a number of free agents. According to GM Dean Lombardi, the big name who got away, Marian Hossa, nearly signed with the Kings, but ultimately chose Chicago because they were closer to being a 100-point, Stanley Cup champion-caliber team. But Hossa supposedly had some very nice things to say about the Kings and the direction they're headed, saying they are the next Chicago Blackhawks, referring to the quick turnaround made by the team from mediocrity to serious Cup contenders.

The Kings were also very much involved with Marian Gaborik, who signed a ridiculous five-year deal with the Rangers, Martin Havlat, who signed a five-year deal with the Wild, and Mike Knuble, who chose to stay on the East Coast with Washington. They have no turned their attention to Alex Tanguay and Alex Kovalev.

Scratch Gaborik Off The Kings Wishlist

He just reportedly signed with the Rangers as I was typing out my previous post. Deal is five years, $7.5MM per year.

Yikes! Good luck with that contract, Rangers.

All Quiet on the Kings Front

Free agency started earlier this afternoon, and the Kings had been linked to a number of players. So far, however, it's been a relatively quiet day for the Kings. They are rumored to have made an offer to winger Marian Gaborik, and word is they were interested in winger Martin Havlat. For the time being, both players remained unsigned.

Meanwhile, there were some other big free agent signings today. Among others, Marian Hossa inked a 12-year deal with Chicago. Nikolai Khabibulin signed a four-year deal with Edmonton. Former King Michael Cammalleri signed with Montreal for five years. Defenseman Mike Komisarek is headed to Toronto for the next five years. The Sedin twins re-upped in Vancouver for five years, as well.

For a complete list of who went where, TSN has a free agent tracker up and running.

Yesterday, Jay Bouwmeester, whose rights were traded to Calgary on draft day by Florida, signed for five years with the Flames. The Rangers traded Chris Gomez to the Canadiens for Chris Higgins as part of a six-player deal. And the Oilers and Senators agreed in principle on a deal that would send disgruntled forward Dany Heatley from Ottawa to Edmonton, pending Heatley's approval as he has a no-trade clause. So far, the deal is still waiting a decision from Heatley.