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.
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.
Yesterday I had mentioned I was 'ok' with the Patrick O'Sullivan trade because I felt it was a trade they made for future purposes, like maybe a precursor to them going hard after Marian Gaborik as a free agent this summer. Sully had signed a 4 year, $21MM deal last year, and I thought maybe the trade was a salary dump to go after Gaborik. I also mentioned I had done some 'research' and read other people's reactions to the deal, but I obviously didn't dig deep enough.
My understanding now is Sully's contract was heavily front-loaded, meaning he got a good chunk of his money up-front, or this year. That said, it would be almost impossible for it to be a salary dump if they've already paid him. Which brings me to the reason now I think the trade was stupid.
Sully is one of those rare talents. At just 22, he was supposed to be one of the centerpieces for the future of the franchise. As someone else said to me yesterday, you just don't trade a guy like Sully... unless you're getting a guy like Kovalchuk or even Bouwmeester. What they got back was a well-rounded veteran, but an aging player with a history of injuries and the inability to put points on the board.
So the Kings had to have had their reasons for moving Sully. Could it have been his work ethic? Or maybe his attitude? It was no secret he wasn't happy with his playing time or the frequent line changes. So could they had just grown wary of his constant complaining? Or maybe the fact he waited so long to sign his contract? We'll really never know but I do know this: you don't just give away great young talent like that. The kid is 22. You work through those issues. This deal to me was a big risk, and the timing is very questionable.
So, after giving this some thought, I've decided that since this trade tells me the Kings have given up on their season, I'm giving up on them. I'm boycotting the remainder of the season (or at least most of it) until they prove to me and show me otherwise. Don't get me wrong, I like terry Murray, and I love Dean Lombardi for most of the moves he's made to prepare this franchise for the future. I know they have a plan, but to me, they went backwards again with this trade. And I know it's only one trade, but we as Kings fans are tired of the lack of commitment from the organization. We're tired of the teasers. It's time they made a commitment to the city of Los Angeles, and to the fans, and stick to it.
By the way, for some really good analysis and an interesting story on how this deal went down, check out the Daily News' Rich Hammond's Inside the Kings blog. Some really good stuff there!
In what appears to be a salary dump (at least to me, after a first glance), the Kings shipped forward Patrick O'Sullivan to the Carolina Panthers today just before the trade deadline, for forward Justin Williams.
I've been reading some of the feedback from fans at both LGK.com and some of the other hockey sites, and obviously most people don't like this deal straight up. But after looking a tad further into this, looking at some of the other factors possibly involved behind the deal, I came to the conclusion (along with a friend of mine who will remain unnamed) that this was probably a salary dump, and the Kings were probably gearing up for a busy off-season this summer. (Remember O'Sullivan signing that big four year, $21MM deal in the off-season?)
Personally, I wouldn't be in the least bit surprised if the Kings went hard after Marian Gaborik this summer. It's the only explanation I can think of after giving up on such a promising young kid in O'Sullivan. The offense this year has been inconsistently sporadic at best, and my feeling is because they don't really have a proven veteran scorer on their top two lines to take the scoring burden off Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar or Alex Frolov.
I was also reading from the fans that their impression is the Kings have all but given up on this season. They haven't played well in the last week or two, and have fallen further behind the pack for that elusive eighth and final playoff spot in the Western Conference with some tough losses, too many, in fact. But because there is so much parity in the conference right now, there is still hope, albeit a longshot at this point with too many teams ahead of them to climb.
Having said all that, would it be that bad to miss the playoffs one more season, then go sign that big veteran scorer they've really been lacking for a few years, and then make a serious run next season with everyone a year older and more mature? I don't. And I know Kings fans are tired of not making the playoffs, but obviously Dean Lombardi has a plan, and the best plan of is to stick to your plan and let it play itself. The Kings were never expected to be in contention this far into the season anyway. But should they manage to get into the playoffs, that would be nice, too.
A couple of other notes, both Erik Ersberg and Sean O'Donnell agreed to contract extensions today, and Tom Preissing was assigned to Manchester this afternoon after clearing waivers.
