Los Angeles Kings – Page 157 – Pro Hockey Rumors

Los Angeles Kings Sign Clague, Wagner To Three-Year Contracts

By Gavin Lee | at March 6, 2017 4:21 pm

The Los Angeles Kings have gotten into the entry-level contract fun. The team has signed both Kale Clague and Austin Wagner to three-year, entry-level deals. Both players are coming to the end of their CHL seasons, and will now start on their professional journey.

Clague was the Kings’ second-round pick in the 2016 draft, and is another in the growing trend of slightly-undersized but tremendously skilled defenders. Finally out of the shadow of Ivan Provorov for the Brandon Wheat Kings, he has become the team’s top defender and produced like it all season. 38 points in 43 games during what has been a shortened season due to injury and the World Juniors, Clague is one of the best skaters in his draft class and can move the puck efficiently and calmly under pressure.

For the Kings, he represents the next piece in the pipeline they’ve created for defenders. While he may not get to the NHL for a few more seasons, the future looks bright for the 18-year old. His development is made all that more important for the club since they dealt Eric Cernak away to the Tampa Bay Lightning for Ben Bishop.

Wagner was a fourth-round selection in 2015, and has continued to put up solid point numbers for the Regina Pats. His 60 points in 58 games represent a career-high pace, but it’s his strong defensive work that stands out for scouts when watching him. Responsible in his own end and willing to use his size on the forecheck, his offensive upside may be limited at the next level. He’ll turn 20 this summer and will debut with the Ontario Reign of the AHL next season.

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Vegas Golden Knights Sign Reid Duke As First Player In Franchise History

By Gavin Lee | at March 6, 2017 1:32 pm

It’s not a big name, but it will be remembered forever. Reid Duke of the Brandon Wheat Kings has been signed by the Vegas Golden Knights to a three-year entry-level contract and with it, becomes the first player in the history of the organization. The deal will carry a cap hit of $770K with performance bonuses that could raise the AAV to $925K, per CapFriendly. As we’ve hinted at in the past few days, the Golden Knights will likely dive deep into the pool of over-aged CHL players and NCAA free agents leading up to the draft, as they will eventually have to fill out their minor league affiliates as well as NHL team.

Duke is a 21-year old center from Calgary, Alberta who has been playing for the Wheat Kings—where Vegas AGM Kelly McCrimmon worked for years and still owns—and was eligible to be signed by any team in the league. Originally selected by the Minnesota Wild in the sixth round of the 2014 draft, the team lost his rights after not signing him by June 1st of last year. With 67 points in 54 games this season, Duke might not look like a promising prospect to new fans, but McCrimmon has a different message.

When we project Reid, we think his game will evolve as he becomes a pro. We believe he’s going to be an NHL player. I think what’s impressive with Reid is a real high skill level and yet a guy that’s able to play a big, strong, heavy game.

Duke will finish his season in Brandon before attending the inaugural Golden Knights development camp this summer, along with many other future players. Even if he never does make it to the NHL, he’ll always be able to say he was the first player in the history of an NHL franchise.

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Pacific Notes: Shore, Nolan, Dell, Marchant

By Brian La Rose | at March 3, 2017 6:50 pm

After leaving Thursday’s game against Toronto due to an upper body injury, Kings center Nick Shore is listed as day-to-day for the time being but was seen with his arm in a sling today, reports Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. He will be evaluated further on Saturday. Shore is in his second full season at the NHL level and recently passed his career high in points last week; he has 12 on the year in 63 games.

Still with the Kings, left winger Jordan Nolan didn’t skate with the team at practice today and he is also listed as day-to-day. The 27 year old has missed the last three games with a leg injury and the fact he didn’t skate today would put his status for tomorrow’s game against Vancouver in serious doubt.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

The Sharks are planning to play backup goaltender Aaron Dell more often down the stretch, notes CSN Bay Area’s Kevin Kurz. Dell has made just 11 starts through 63 games this season and as a result, starter Martin Jones is on pace to play in nearly 70 games which many believe is too high of a workload. To his credit, Dell has been more than solid in his limited body of work this year, posting a 1.88 GAA and a .935 SV% when he does get to play. San Jose has five back-to-back games in March (the first set coming this weekend) so there’s a good chance Dell will get to play more regularly in the weeks ahead.
The Ducks recently added former NHL center Todd Marchant to serve as an assistant coach for the remainder of the season although he will remain their Director of Player Development. Eric Stephens of the Orange County Register outlines his role with the team, which will involve serving as an ‘eye in the sky’ during games while working with the team on faceoffs and the penalty kill. That role should come as no surprise as Marchant was a strong penalty killer for much of his 17 year NHL career.

East Notes: Jokinen, Elias, Cammalleri

By Gavin Lee | at March 3, 2017 2:54 pm

Today in things you didn’t realize: Olli Jokinen hasn’t officially retired. After last playing in the NHL in 2014-15 for the St. Louis Blues—after stints in Nashville and Toronto earlier that season—the former Florida Panthers captain will officially retire prior to the Panthers game on Tuesday against the New York Rangers. A third-overall pick by the Los Angeles Kings back in 1997, Jokinen suited up for the Kings, Islanders, Panthers, Coyotes, Flames, Rangers, Jets, Predators, Maple Leafs and Blues during his 18 year NHL career.

Now 38, Jokinen scored 750 points in 1231 games and was one of the most consistent producers in the game during his prime. Involved in a handful of huge trades over the year, he and Roberto Luongo were the package sent from New York to Florida after the Islanders drafted Rick DiPietro first overall in 2000. The two would help shape the next decade of Panthers hockey, while DiPietro would suffer multiple injuries and become a cautionary “what if” story.

Staying with the old guard, Tom Gulitti of NHL.com reports that Patrik Elias has been skating on and off this season and will talk to Devils GM Ray Shero next week about the possibility of playing at some point this season. Elias is currently unsigned by the Devils, but would return to the only team he’s ever known in the NHL should he want to hit the ice this season. The 40-year old has 1025 points in 1240 games over his long and successful career.
Maybe the Devils could use him right now, as Andrew Gross of The Record reports that Mike Cammalleri will be out at least a week with an upper-body injury. The forward will be re-evaluated next week at some point to see when he’ll be able to return. In a down season for the 34-year old Cammalleri, he has just 10 goals in 55 games and is starting to show his age on the ice. With two more years on his contract at $5MM per season, he certainly isn’t performing up to his current deal.

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Trade Deadline Summary: Winners & Losers Of The Pacific Division

By Zach Leach | at March 1, 2017 9:51 pm

The NHL Trade Deadline has come and gone, and while it wasn’t the most exciting deadline day in recent memory, there were quite a few notable moves. Here are the winners and losers of the upstart Pacific Division:

Winners

Anaheim Ducks:

Acquired Patrick Eaves from Dallas Stars for conditional second-round pick

The Ducks had one real need at the deadline and that was another top six winger. By getting ahead of the market and making the deal for Eaves earlier this week, Anaheim was already a winner at the deadline. The conditional second-rounder, which can become a first, is a steep price. However, given that Eaves is having a career year, the market value had yet to be set, and the Ducks desperation had grown due to the Antoine Vermette suspension, they were right to swing a deal when they had the chance. It was a quiet deadline day in Anaheim, but this is still a team that could make a lot of noise down the stretch.

Arizona Coyotes:

Acquired 2017 third-round pick and conditional 2018 fifth-round pick from Calgary Flames for Michael Stone
Acquired 2017 first-round pick, 2018 second-round pick, conditional 2019 fourth-round pick, and Grayson Downing from Minnesota Wild for Martin Hanzal, Ryan White, and 2017 fourth-round pick
Acquired Teemu Pulkkinen from Minnesota Wild for “future considerations”
Acquired Joe Whitney from Colorado Avalanche for Brandon Ranford

The Coyotes messed up by not trading Radim Vrbata (and might have been able to get more for Stone), but put that aside and what they were able to get from the Minnesota Wild is pretty extraordinary. The team wanted to re-sign Hanzal, but when talks fell apart, it became a foregone conclusion that he would be moved. Yet, that inevitability never drove the prices down and the Wild ended up offering an amazing deal for the career Coyote. The Avalanche should take note because this is how you work the trade deadline as one the league’s worst teams. In exchange for impending free agents who were not coming back in Hanzal and Stone, Arizona ends up with five picks and two prospects (assuming, as it often does, that “future considerations” means nothing) and the team has suffered almost no loss. If GM John Chayka has decided to deal Vrbata, he likely would have added another pair of good picks to that mix, but as it stands, the Coyotes still did pretty well.

Calgary Flames:

Acquired Michael Stone from Arizona Coyotes for 2017 third-round pick and conditional 2018 fifth-round pick
Acquired Curtis Lazar and Mike Kostka from Ottawa Senators for 2017 second-round pick and Jyrki Jokipakka

Yes, the Flames are a fringe playoff team that gave away their second and third-rounders this June. Normally, that would make them losers and if Stone leaves in free agency and Lazar never pans out, they will be. For now, they’re winners because both players could have long, successful careers in Calgary. Lazar is a former first-rounder who needed a change of scenery and a better environment to develop in. The young, speedy Flames squad is the perfect fit and the “big picture” thinking of Brad Treliving strikes again. On the same note, Stone has never played anywhere but Arizona, but will need a new home in 2017-18 and beyond. By bringing him in at the deadline, Calgary gets a head start on convincing the young puck-mover to sign with them and it would be no surprise at all if he does. The Flames will need another top four defenseman next year, after Dennis Wideman and Deryk Engelland leave, and Stone fits the bill. The Flames could have done more to improve their playoff chances this year, but they are a young team whose true contender future is still down the road. No use spending when you don’t stand much of a chance in the powerhouse Western Conference at this point in time.

Vancouver Canucks:

Acquired Jonathan Dahlen from Ottawa Senators for Alexandre Burrows
Acquired Nikolay Goldobin and conditional 2017 fourth-round pick from San Jose Sharks for Jannik Hansen

Vancouver GM Jim Benning is the MVP of the trade deadline and, despite being sellers, the Canucks are the ultimate winners with deadline day having come and gone. Other than goalie Ryan Miller, Vancouver’s only other real trade bait players were long-time Canucks Burrows and Hansen. Burrows was an impending unrestricted free agent who was unlikely to be re-signed and Hansen had one year left on his contract but was a prime candidate to be exposed in the Expansion Draft. Benning took these two players, essentially throwaways to the franchise, and turned them into former first-round and second-round prospects and a pick that can go as high as a first rounder. Dahlen was just named the best player in Sweden’s junior league and Goldobin is already tearing up the AHL. Both players project to be top-six wingers, and soon. It’s an incredible and almost unthinkable return for two aging bottom-six skaters. Benning deserves all the credit in the world, and you can bet that the Canucks are now the Sharks biggest fans, as a Stanley Cup title in San Jose adds a first-rounder to the deadline haul.

Losers

Edmonton Oilers:

Acquired David Desharnais from Montreal Canadiens for Brandon Davidson
Acquired Justin Fontaine from New York Rangers for Taylor Beck

Like the Calgary Flames, the Oilers are a team whose best days lie ahead and no one was expecting them to go all-out at the deadline. Unlike Calgary though, the Oilers could have actually been a factor in the 2017 postseason if they had made the right moves. Trading a young defenseman for a washed-up center is not the right move. Davidson needed to be moved for Expansion Draft reasons, but GM Peter Chiarelli could have gotten a lot more than Desharnais. They needed a backup goalie, a top-nine forward, a penalty kill specialist, and honestly could have used a veteran depth defenseman as well. They ended up with none of that. If Edmonton decided they were going to stand pat at the deadline, that’s fine. However, if you’re going to trade a promising asset like Davidson, at least get something you need in return.

Los Angeles Kings:

Acquired Ben Bishop, a 2017 fifth-round pick, and a conditional 2017 pick from the Tampa Bay Lightning for Peter Budaj, Erik Cernak, and a 2017 seventh-round pick
Acquired a conditional 2018 fourth-round pick from Montreal Canadiens for Dwight King
Acquired Jarome Iginla from Colorado Avalanche for conditional 2018 fourth-round pick

Unlike most of the major losers at the deadline, L.A. was an active participant. The only thing is their moves made no sense. All season long, the Kings got unexpectedly excellent goaltending from Budaj and just last week got star keeper Jonathan Quick back from injury. The defense has also been great and the team has been near the top of the league in goals against all season. Where they’ve struggled in 2016-17 is scoring. The team needed some speed and some play-makers on the power play. So what does GM Dean Lombardi do? He trades Budaj and promising prospect Cernak to Tampa for the best goalie on the market in Bishop. He then trades away Dwight King, who has been a staple of the Kings’ recent playoff success, and instead of using the cap space to acquire a quick, dynamic scorer, he adds 39-year-old Iginla, who is noticeably slower and has failed to produce points all season long. You can certainly make an argument that that the Kings got better, personnel-wise, but they didn’t improve in the areas of need. L.A. is currently outside of a playoff spot and, now even more unfortunately with fan-favorite Iginla in the fold, it’s difficult to see that changing unless the team’s existing play-makers step up their game.

San Jose Sharks:

Acquired Jannik Hansen from Vancouver Canucks for Nikolay Goldobin and a conditional 2017 fourth-round pick

It’s difficult to call the Sharks losers because they have such a complete team and didn’t have many needs at the deadline to start with. San Jose needed a top-nine forward or two and maybe a backup goalie. It’s even more difficult to call them a loser because Hansen is a solid top-nine player who had a great 2015-16 campaign and will help the team this year and next. However, Hansen doesn’t really fill the need for a scoring forward. He’s more of a two-way forward good for about 15 goals and 15 assists in a good year. You know who is more of the goal-scoring forward they need? Nikolay Goldobin. Goldobin is a 2014 first-round pick and nearly a point-per-game player in the AHL. Give him another year or two and he’s surely a top-nine player for the Sharks. San Jose just really didn’t need to make a big move and would have been fine just to stand pat or add a guy like P.A. Parenteau or Drew Stafford for cheap. Instead, they drastically overpaid for Hansen with Goldobin. Add in that the conditional fourth becomes a first if the Sharks win the Stanley Cup, and this deal goes from bad to worse.

4 comments Anaheim Ducks Brad Treliving Calgary Flames Dan Cloutier Edmonton Oilers Expansion Jim Benning Los Angeles Kings San Jose Sharks Utah Mammoth Vancouver Canucks Antoine Vermette Ben Bishop Brandon Davidson Curtis Lazar David Desharnais Dennis Wideman Deryk Engelland Jannik Hansen Jarome Iginla Joe Whitney Jonathan Quick Justin Fontaine Jyrki Jokipakka Martin Hanzal Michael Stone Nikolay Goldobin Patrick Eaves Peter Budaj Peter Chiarelli

Los Angeles Kings Acquire Jarome Iginla From Colorado

By Gavin Lee | at March 1, 2017 11:49 am

Jarome Iginla has waived his no-trade clause and agreed to go to the Los Angeles Kings. In return, the Avalanche will receive a conditional fourth-round draft pick in 2018. The Avalanche will also retain half of Iginla’s salary for the remainder of the season. If the conditions—which are still unknown at this time—aren’t met, the draft pick could actually disappear entirely.

As we wrote recently, Iginla might still have something in the tank for another run at the Stanley Cup this season. While he’s no longer a top-line player, he can likely still contribute in a smaller role. Darryl Sutter, the head coach of the Kings spent three seasons coaching Iginla in Calgary over a decade ago, which included heading to the Cup final in 2004.

The 619-goal man will try to find some of his old style in Los Angeles, as he has completely lost his game this season. With just 18 points in 61 games, it is by far the worst season of his career. The Kings will hope they get last year’s version of Iginla, the one that scored 22 goals and was deadly on the powerplay.

Los Angeles currently sits just outside the playoff picture in the Western Conference, battling with the St. Louis Blues and Iginla’s old Flames. In fact, Iginla will have to play Calgary three times down the stretch to try and knock them out of a playoff spot. The Kings obviously believe that Iginla can help them more than Dwight King, who they shipped out to Montreal minutes earlier for the same return.

For Colorado, getting anything back for the expiring veteran is a good thing. While a fourth-round pick isn’t a game changer for the franchise, it does help them restock and rebuild. If the team does decide to trade Matt Duchene and Gabriel Landeskog, they’ll likely be going for a slow-burn on their future, stockpiling picks and teenage prospects.

Pierre LeBrun of TSN was first to report the deal was being finalized, while Darren Dreger of TSN gave us details on the return.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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Los Angeles Kings Trade Dwight King To Montreal

By Gavin Lee | at March 1, 2017 11:22 am

The Los Angeles Kings have moved big winger Dwight King to the Montreal Canadiens for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2018. The pick can become a third-round selection should King re-sign with Montreal this summer. No salary will be retained in the transaction.

King is another expiring contract, earning $1.95MM in the last season of a three-year deal. The 27-year old is a huge bottom-six player capable of giving the Canadiens a little more punch in the corners. He’s not an offensive presence, but is capable of scoring 10-15 goals and chipping in here and there.

After bringing in Steve Ott last night, the Canadiens will be a much harder team to play against for the rest of the season. They’ve been the most active team so far, bringing in Brandon Davidson and Jordie Benn as well. After a brilliant start to the season on the back of what was some of the best goaltending the league had ever seen, the struggles the team has faced have clearly sparked something in Marc Bergevin.

A fourth-round pick isn’t much for the team to give up, especially when they still have five second-round selections over the next two years. They won’t miss the mid-round pick much, especially if King helps them win a playoff round.

For Los Angeles, moving out King’s salary will open up a bit more room to add if they want, and the fourth-rounder is a nice return. If they are indeed going after Jarome Iginla at the deadline, they’ve just opened up a spot for him.

John Shannon of Sportsnet was the first to report the deal, with Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports giving us the details on the pick.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

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Kings Interested In Jarome Iginla

By Brian La Rose | at March 1, 2017 10:22 am

The Los Angeles Kings have expressed some interest in Colorado right winger Jarome Iginla, TSN’s Bob McKenzie reports via Twitter. Iginla holds a full no-trade clause but is open to lifting it to move to a contender and McKenzie adds that the interest may be mutual.

The Kings are looking for some help up front as they are one of the lowest scoring teams in the Western Conference. However, Iginla has tailed off offensively this season and is on pace for the worst offensive numbers in his career. In 61 games this year, the 39 year old has just eight goals, ten assists, and a -21 rating while averaging a career low 14:45 per game.

However, perhaps a change of scenery would result in a bit of a spark for the veteran. The Kings wouldn’t exactly represent a contending team, however, as they remain on the outside looking in at a playoff spot (they are one point behind the Blues for the last Wild Card spot but St. Louis has a game in hand).

Iginla is in the final year of his contract with a cap hit of $5.33MM. It’s likely that Colorado will have to retain a significant portion of the deal if a trade is agreed upon.

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Los Angeles Kings Trying To Trade Marian Gaborik

By Gavin Lee | at March 1, 2017 7:44 am

According to Renaud Lavoie of TVA Sports (who is the early MVP of trade deadline day), the Los Angeles Kings are trying to move Marian Gaborik out of town. Sending out the rapidly declining sniper would free up some space and ice time for other players as the Kings push hard for the playoffs this season.

Gaborik has seen his play diminish in the past couple of seasons as he heads into the second half of his thirties, but still has four more seasons at $4.875MM on his current deal. It’s a tough pill to swallow for anyone despite Gaborik’s elite goal-scoring history.

It’s been a long time since his last 40 goal season, but perhaps a team would be willing to take him at a reduced salary if the Kings retained some of the money. A former Stanley Cup champion, Gaborik has just seven goals and 15 points in 40 games this season even playing more than 16 minutes a night and skating mostly beside Anze Kopitar.

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Pacific Notes: Kings, Miller, Oilers, Canucks

By Brian La Rose | at February 28, 2017 5:55 pm

While the Kings could still stand to add some offense before tomorrow’s trade deadline, it appears likely that they’ll be quiet on the trade front, suggests Elliott Teaford of the Daily Breeze. He notes that one of the challenges for GM Dean Lombardi will be to find trade assets that teams will be interested in. It’s well-known that the team wouldn’t mind moving on from wingers Dustin Brown (who has five years left after this one) at a $5.875MM cap hit) and Marian Gaborik (four years at a $4.875 cap charge) but they won’t be able to get quality assets in return for either of them.

There’s a good chance that this played a factor into their decision to add Ben Bishop and basically double down on a strength even though it doesn’t address their scoring concerns (heading into Tuesday’s action, Los Angeles sits 11th in the West in goals). They do still have some cap space to play with though as they can add another $3.2MM in a full-season cap hit, per CapFriendly.

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