The Two-Line Pass

The Los Angeles Kings announced today that they signed Anze Kopitar through the 2015-2016 season. No info on the money yet, but you’d assume it’s affordable.

Great job locking up one of the best young players in the league.

“This is really exciting and a little overwhelming to be honest,” Kopitar said Saturday morning in San Jose. “I am happy to be a part of this organization for the next eight years. I can focus now on hockey only and on doing what I want to do, which is to bring the Stanley Cup to L.A. I am also excited to remain with a great group of players who have gotten the same commitment from our organization. We are looking forward to growing together and to building something special here.”

With this signing, the Kings have most of their forward corps locked up for at least this and the next two seasons, with the notable exception being Alex Frolov, whose old deal runs out after next year. You really can’t go wrong locking up guys like Kopitar, Dustin Brown and Patrick O’Sullivan.

The only King to ever get a deal longer than Kopitar’s, by the way? Wayne Gretzky.

UPDATE: He’s gonna get $6.8 million a year.

Based on the findings of the report, my conclusion was that this idea was not a practical deterrent for reasons which at this moment must be all too obvious.

Lately, the situation between the KHL and NHL has been a bit tense.

The armies of general managers, agents, league officials and lawyers have been holed up in their Cold War-era situation rooms for the weeks following the KHL’s July 15 moratorium on signing players under NHL contracts. The begrudging “respect” was borne of the mutually-assured destruction that would take place were one side to openly attack the other.

What the Kings just did is the equivalent of dropping a neutron bomb on Leningrad, then sent a teletype to Kruschev making light of his mother’s weight problem, indicating that, were she to sit around the Kremlin, she would sit AROUND the Kremlin.

It’s on now (click for moon language-y goodness, but good on the Ruskies for using WordPress).

“The Continental Hockey League strictly adhered to the unilaterally declared moratorium on signing players who had existing contracts with the National Hockey League clubs. The NHL violated the earlier agreement in Zurich on August 28 and formally announced the signing of contracts by the Los Angeles Kings club with players Andrei Loktionovym and Vyacheslav Voynovym. These players have existing contracts with KHL clubs “Lokomotiv” (Yaroslavl) and “Tractor” (Chelyabinsk), respectively.

“In connection with this, the KHL considers itself free from any obligations to comply with the previously announced moratorium on transferring players. On September 6 at the headquarters of the International Hockey Federation in Zurich, there will be a meeting on this topic, after which the Continental Hockey League will determine further action regarding the National Hockey League.”

Whether or not their KHL contracts were actually valid is a point I’m sure the Kings would deny profusely, but regardless, why pry open this can of worms right now? It’s not as though the Kings didn’t retain their rights, and it’s not as though these kids are likely to make the big club this year. Lombardi had previously said they’re open to playing in North America regardless of it being the NHL or in juniors, and certainly they wanted to get them signed before they put pen to paper on a long-term KHL deal, but I would have to think someone at the NHL’s head office would say to Dean Lombardi (and I’m sure he consulted them on this), “Uhh, Dean, this seems like a pretty bad idea right now.”

Who’s to say that a transfer agreement of some kind couldn’t have been reached before next year’s draft? Who’s to say these kids would have signed a KHL contract for five years and a lot more than the Kings can give them, as is Lombardi’s fear? If they’re so committed to North America, then getting them to sign at any point would have been simple enough.

I understand that this might all be posturing from KHL officials like the Filatov situation. The NHL says Russian Super League contracts never carried over to the KHL, the KHL says they did. That’s for the IIHF to decide.

But why would Lombardi stir the pot to begin with? There’s nothing to be gained by this aside from two mid-level prospects. Doesn’t seem worth it to me.

We’re now something like 48 days out from the start of the NHL season so I figure this is as good a time as any to start doing the season previews. This is mainly for two reasons: 1) I am lazy and there’s no way I’ll do one of these every day, and 2) This is early enough that if I just stop doing them entirely you’ll have forgotten by October anyway. Oh and I guess also to show off my near-infinite knowledge of the National Hockey League. I’ll be previewing the teams in reverse order of finish in the 2007-08 season. Please note, though, that this is the opinion of one man, however smart and handsome he may be.

Los Angeles Kings, you’re on the clock.

These guys are good. The rest.. ehhhhhh.

It’s been a tough few years to be a Kings fan.

The team hasn’t made the playoffs since 2002, but unlike the Penguins, whose success has been built upon years of lucky ping pong ball bounces and on-ice ineptitude, has usually finished high enough to get draft picks outside the top 5. Never mind the bad free agent signings (HOW much for a 37-year-old Rob Blake?) and years without a passable goaltending situation (Garon, Burke, Cloutier, LaBarbera, Cechmanek, etc.), the team has been stuck between rebuilding and trying to win for the last several years. At least, I hope so for their sake.

But that’s different now. The GM Dean Lombardi has probably gambled his job on new coach Terry Murray, who has to make Los Angeles actually care about hockey again the way the Ducks almost did when they won the Cup if the team is going to compete.

Not this year. The Kings are going to be an awful, awful team in 2008-09. Like, real bad. The team finished second-to-last in the NHL last season and got worse. A truly great quartet of forwards in Anze Kopitar, Dustin Brown, Alex Frolov and Patrick O’Sullivan return for the Kings, but they’ve also lost sure-thing 30-goal guy Mike Cammaleri.

Not that offense was ever the problem for L.A. to begin with. The problem is, and has always been, defense and goaltending. So when Blake and Lubomir Visnovsky, the two biggest minutes-eaters on defense, left by free agency and trade, respectively, things got appreciably worse. Offensive defenseman Jack Johnson, he of the 11-point, minus-19 2007-08 campaign, and Tom Preissing, who is actually good, is now the No. 1 pairing in L.A. Preissing, though, has only averaged 20 minutes in a season once in his four-year career.

However, they are buttressed by such blueline luminaries as Matt Greene (career 0.09 points per game and minus-31), Denis Gauthier (four points and a minus-11 in 43 games and no playoff appearances with Philly last year), and Peter Harrold (a veteran of 37 NHL games). That’s it. Five NHL defensemen on the roster. And yes, the Kings are way, way below the cap floor so they’ll have to sign someone, but the list of remaining free agent defensemen is, uh, slim. Big Joey DiPenta, maybe? Marek Malik could be yours for the right price. One supposes that the biggest blueline question centers around whether or not 2007 pick Thomas Hickey or 2008 pick Drew Doughty (both as yet unsigned) are ready. If both are, the Kings might not have too big of a problem keeping the puck out of the n…

Oh wait, the goalie situation. Right. Jason LaBarbera is the No. 1 guy right now (by default more than anything else, like merit), with three rookies vying for the backup role that will likely be won by 26-year-old Erik Ersberg. Ersberg was outstanding in his few games last year, posting 2.48/.927 in 15 games, in which the Kings went 6-5-3. But whether or not he’s ready to play 40, 50, or even 60 games (with those numbers, he’s certainly deserving) remains to be seen. The Kings also have promising 20-year-old QMJHLer Jonathan Bernier who was not-so-good in four games for L.A. last year, and Jon Quick, a UMass product who was impressive in Manchester.

Still, there are too many questions, especially on the blue line, to really give this team any sort of credit this year.

More after the jump.

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In the lead-up to the new NHL season, more and more of the logos from the NHL’s new line of third jerseys are starting to leak to the public in dribs and drabs.

A few weeks ago, we saw the new third jersey concepts for the Bruins, Coyotes, Thrashers, Sabres, Penguins, Sharks, Lightning and Leafs and today, we get black and white drawings of the Senators’ (maybe) and Kings’ new logos.

They both stink.

The Sens’ is just their regular ol’ Senator, slightly meaner looking, and now they’ve added a cape, possibly because they’d like to capitalize on this Batman craze that’s going around right now.

The Kings’ though? Yeesh.

Not good, guys. Why is the font vaguely Japanese? It looks like someone just saw it on the front of an Akira Kurosawa DVD box set and said, “Yes, this is the font for us.”

I don’t know why teams seem to miss the whole concept that simpler is better.

How I stop puck? (ow my hip)

Poor Dan Cloutier can’t catch a break.

First, and most obviously, he has spent the last two seasons posting hockey stats that would only make baseball players envious. His last two single-season goals-against averages (3.71) more closely resemble above-average baseball ERAs and his save percentages (.874) would be good OPSes for second basemen.

Then he got hurt and spent much of the year nursing knee and hip injuries. It was no surprise, then, that the Kings eventually put him on waivers with the intention of buying him out once he cleared. But there was a problem: Cloutier was still hurt. Under the newish CBA, you can’t buy out or waive an injured player.

The Kings bought him out anyway.

But Cloutier contended that he was still hurt, so the league was brought in to settle the dispute, and they unsurprisingly ruled that Cloutier was indeed bought out.

An independent arbitrator will hear this case — at some point in the indeterminate and assumedly semi-far-off future. I’m assuming Cloutier’s S.O.L. on this one, which is really too bad. He seems like a nice enough guy, awful goalie or not, and the Kings front office was the one that gave him his contract, truly one of the first big head-scratchers in the New NHL. The Kings should have to pay double his salary against the cap, just because of how stupid the deal was in the first place.

Shady dealings like this don’t bode well for the players down the road, that’s fore sure. Watch as Jeff Finger is mysteriously injured and bought out by this time next year.

EVERYONE TO EVERYWHERE (E16)

Beware, o reader. What you are about to read makes absolutely no sense. Not even the slightest bit. For the sake of your own sanity, it would be best to read this next post after popping a handful of valium just so you don’t overreact and do something outlandish.

You have been warned.

The Ottawa Sun is citing “internet rumors” (always trustworthy) of an impending three-way trade between its hometown Senators, the Chicago Blackhawks, and the Los Angeles Kings.

This alleged trade would have the Sens giving up Andrej Meszaros and Martin Gerber, the Kings giving up Anze Kopitar, and the Blackhawks giving up Nikolai Khabibulin and either Brent Seabrook or Cam Barker. Other players and picks could also exchange hands in this insane fantasy world.

On the surface, it seems the deal could be a rare win-win-win.

No it doesn’t. Let’s look at this rationally.

Ottawa gets: Khabibulin, Seabrook/Barker

L.A. gets: Gerber and Meszaros

Chicago gets: Kopitar

Try to wrap our heads around this one. Ottawa gives up Meszaros and a fairly cheap goalie in Gerber for expensive and aging Khabibulin and a Meszaros comparable (in terms of age and salary) in Seabrook or Barker. Ottawa gets worse in net and stays the same on the blue line for more money. L.A. gets a mediocre goalie (they have a lot now) and Meszaros, who is a perfectly good defenseman but gives up one of the best young offensive players in the league despite struggling to score last year. Chicago unloads an awful contract and a redundant defenseman to get Kopitar.

The only winner in this trade would be Chicago, and they would win by a wide, wide margin.

The wonderful Eklund says the trade would work like this, which is surprisingly more sensible but still quite bad.

Sens get: Khabibulin,Barker and (Patrick) Sharp
Kings get: Gerber, Seabrook and (Chris) Neil or (Antoine) Vermette
Hawks get: (Eric) Ersberg, (Tom) Preissing , (Patrick) O’Sullivan and Vermette or Neil

Sportsnet has picked up this story as well, which tells you just how much you, as a hockey fan, should value anything they ever have to say.

Aw there goes Lindros' brain again.

It appears as though the Kings are about to hire Philadelphia assistant coach Terry Murray as their next head coach.

According to sources, the Los Angeles Kings are finalizing details on a contract with Murray to become their new head coach. Murray, who turns 58 on Sunday, spent the past four seasons as an assistant coach with the Philadelphia Flyers and previously had head coach stints with the Florida Panthers, Flyers and Washington Capitals.

In those stints, Murray made the playoffs nine of 10 times, making it to the Conference finals three times, and advancing to the Cup final once (in 1997, those halcyon days of Ron Hextall and a 23-year-old Eric Lindros). In the 10 seasons, one of which was shortened by the 1994 strike, he put together a record of 313-258-82 (.636 winning percentage).

Murray replaces Marc Crawford, who is awful and has an unhealthy love for Dan Cloutier, who is also awful and does nothing to help Crawford’s awfulness.

Somehow, this actually seems like a good idea. What is Dean Lombardi thinking?