Los Angeles Kings

[Sudden Death]

Los Angeles did not have a first round pick in this year's NHL Entry Draft. That pick was dealt to Edmonton in the Dustin Penner trade.

With their second round pick (49th overall), LA chose goaltender Christopher Gibson out of the QMJHL. Considering Goalie Guild has the Kings organization ranked at #4 in goaltending depth, I was surprised to see them take a goalie so early in the draft. Gibson, however, was ranked as the #2 North American goaltender available. He posted a .920 SV% and 2.42 GAA for Chicoutimi, which were 1st and 2nd in QMJHL, respectively. He also recorded four shutouts.

Here's what Central Scouting has to say about the kid:

NHL Central Scouting’s Al Jensen
“He's a very confident goalie, has an air of confidence about him. He's got very good net coverage, has good size and is very strong in his crease. He plays determined and aggressive, his movements are controlled, he tracks the puck very well and he challenges properly and holds his ground. He battled hard in all areas. He has a good, solid butterfly, was quick at gathering in any loose pucks and has good overall quickness.�

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I was going to post about the upcoming arbitration hearings for Brad Richardson & Alec Martinez - but just saw this on Kings Insider:

Well, scratch July 27 off the arbitration list. Alec Martinez has agreed to a two-year contract with the Kings. More details to come

Martinez had an impressive rookie season, playing mostly in a 3rd pairing with Matt Greene. I am glad to see him coming back, but with all their depth at defense, I wonder where they will find room for Voynov.

[vojdog]

Hey Howard,

Do you see Martinez as a full timer next season? What type of role would you expect, and what type of offensive numbers do you project?

[Sudden Death]

Do you see Martinez as a full timer next season? What type of role would you expect, and what type of offensive numbers do you project?

I would anticipate Martinez as a regular on the 3rd D pairing with Matt Greene again this year. Typically Coach Murray will go with Doughty/Mitchell and Johnson/Scuderi as the primary pairings. Injuries to Scuds & Mitchell last season gave Martinez some added minutes and a number of shifts with 2nd PP unit. Barring a significant injury to one of those 4 d-man above him, I would see things staying the same. He may be an occasional scratch to get extra defenseman Davis Drewiske into a few games.

Last season, Martinez put up 16 points in 60 games, five of those points on the power play. I think he will top 20 pts this year, mostly at even strength. Although he doesn't have much fantasy value, even in deeper formats, I love his quick shot from the blue line. There were many times last year when Jack Johnson or Drew Doughty would take these huge wind-ups, hoping to unleash bombs from the point, only to shoot the puck straight into the shin pads of an opponent who had time to close the gap. Martinez has a quick release and his shot is usually on target.

As a side note, Martinez's new contract was for two years for $1.475M.

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A little copy & paste courtesy of Kings Insider (Rich Hammond does an amazing job!).

Kings & restricted free agent Brad Richardson avoid arbitration by coming to terms.

Brad Richardson signed a two-year contract for a total of $2.35 million. Richardson gets a salary bump from his $900,000 last season. His new salary-cap hit is $1,175,000, and in terms of cash, Richardson will make $1 million in 2011-12 and $1.35 million in 2012-13.

Richardson can play center or wing. Given Terry Murray's tendency to shuffle his lines, Brad should bounce between the 3rd & 4th lines and the press box quite a bit.

GM Dean Lombardi provided an update of sorts regarding Drew Doughty.

Lombardi said his contract guru Jeff Solomon, the Kings’ vice president of hockey operations and legal affairs, has been in contact with Doughty’s representatives. Lombardi was asked whether the sticking points involved money or contract length, and Lombardi said, “I guess you could say it’s both. Both kind of work hand in hand.� So, it seems nothing is imminent. Given that there’s little motivation for Doughty to sign now, so this could drag on a while.

Speculation is that Drew is waiting to see Shea Webber's new contract before signing.

[jeffl97]

Sounds like Penner is working out pretty hard. He lost 10lbs already

PENNER: “Now it’s pretty much an 8 (a.m.) to 2 (p.m.) job. I think a lot of guys who come from other teams, we share that feeling that we weren’t used to this type of intensity. But it’s definitely (a good thing). I think you can attribute some of their start last season [12-3 in the first 15 games] to the training they did in the offseason. With the team we’ve got this year, and everybody on the same page as far as that goes, we will be tough to stop.”

PENNER: “Well, winning is one of them. I want to set personal bests in my statistical categories and then just improve as a player, become more of a leader and things like that. What the great players do is, they’re always looking to improve facets of their game. I think, with these workouts, I’m on the right track.”

The bolded is pretty good for fantasy owners to hear.

here's the articles:
http://www.mayorsmanor.com/2011/07/w...medy-hour.html
http://lakingsinsider.com/2011/07/12...-expectations/

[bondon]

Sounds like Penner is working out pretty hard. He lost 10lbs already

PENNER: “Now it’s pretty much an 8 (a.m.) to 2 (p.m.) job. I think a lot of guys who come from other teams, we share that feeling that we weren’t used to this type of intensity. But it’s definitely (a good thing). I think you can attribute some of their start last season [12-3 in the first 15 games] to the training they did in the offseason. With the team we’ve got this year, and everybody on the same page as far as that goes, we will be tough to stop.”

PENNER: “Well, winning is one of them. I want to set personal bests in my statistical categories and then just improve as a player, become more of a leader and things like that. What the great players do is, they’re always looking to improve facets of their game. I think, with these workouts, I’m on the right track.”

The bolded is pretty good for fantasy owners to hear.

here's the articles:
http://www.mayorsmanor.com/2011/07/w...medy-hour.html
http://lakingsinsider.com/2011/07/12...-expectations/

That is good to hear.

I'll probably end up taking a flyer on him in my one year in hopes that he means business this year.

Though I can't help but think about the whole money on a string trick when I think about Penner haha.

[Sudden Death]

I can't help but think about the whole money on a string trick when I think about Penner haha.

That's exactly how I see Penner this year!

[JagrBomb]

gagne will be glued to richards, so penner is either first line LW or 3rd line LW. boom or bust. personally i think he gets like 60 points, he's in a contract year, it's no surprise he's working his ass off right now, it could be the difference between a 2-3M contract and a 4-5M contract.

[Sudden Death]

You're right about 1st or 3rd line praba - hell, he ended up on 4th line in the playoffs. Murray loves to shuffle lines and effort plays a big part in those moves.

With the motivation of playing for a new contract, if Penner can click with Kopitar & Williams, he should stick on the first line and have a good year.

[Sudden Death]

You know it's a slow day in the off season when the big news is about new addition Simon Gagne's uniform number:

Gagne gets his number
Posted by Rich Hammond on 14 July 2011, 12:48 pm
Simon Gagne and his wife had a nice lunch with us today in El Segundo, and hanging behind him was his new No. 12 black jersey. Gagne said the number was given to him, so it looks like Andrei Loktionov will be number-shopping in September.

I am working on a new piece about the King's tandem of netminding Jonathans. Look for it here or the PG Advised section soon.

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From NHL.com

The Los Angeles Kings on Friday signed restricted free-agent forward Trevor Lewis to a two-year, $1.45 million contract.

Lewis, the 17th pick of the 2010 Entry Draft, had 3 goals and 10 assists in 72 regular-season games, his first full NHL season. He was better in the postseason, finishing with a goal, 3 assists and 17 hits in six games.

Lewis also played a big role in the Kings' penalty killing, averaging three minutes per game in shorthanded ice time, second among the team's forwards, as the Kings killed off 85.5 percent of the power plays they faced in the playoffs.

The Kings also signed six players who spent most of last season with their American Hockey League team, the Manchester Monarchs to one-year deals -- forwards Marc-Andre Cliche, Rich Clune and David Meckler, defensemen Andrew Campbell and Patrick Mullen, and goaltender Jeff Zatkoff.

You might notice a certain defenseman is missing from that list. (cough, cough) Drew Doughty?

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check out my piece on Quick/Bernier in PG Advised Section called "Two Jonathans, One Crease"

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I saw this gem on Jewels From the Crown.

Bill Cowher's daughter to wed NHL enforcer

On Aug. 12, Los Angeles Kings enforcer Kevin Westgarth will tie the knot with his fiancee Meagan Cowher. Westgarth and Cowher met at Princeton, where Westgarth starred for the hockey team and the six-foot-one Cowher played for the women’s basketball team. Cowher twice lead the Ivy League in scoring and became the first Princeton player to be a first-team All-Ivy selection for three seasons, finishing as the third-leading scorer in school history. "She’s actually the real athlete of the family," Westgarth told Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times. "She’s the best player. I’m looking forward to having kids and retiring on what they end up doing." Cowher is also the daughter of former NFL coach Bill Cowher, who guided the Pittsburgh Steelers to victory in Super Bowl XL, and as tough as Westgarth is on the ice, he admitted to a sense of trepidation when it came time to meet his future father-in-law. [...]

[A]sking the man with the famed sideline death stare for his daughter’s hand in marriage was no easy task. "He kind of messed with me a little," Westgarth said. "He finally gave in and said: ’Yes’.’ I think it took cajoling him more than it did Meagan." [...]

Westgarth, known for his wild, flowing hair, admitted that his future wife will make the call on his wedding-day hair style. "Generally, about once a year, she just points to a spot and says, ’Cut it to there'."

[Sudden Death]

Prospect Maxim Kitsyn will play in Russia this season

From Kings Insider

Maxim Kitsyn is going to play in the KHL this coming season, and likely the season after that. When the Kings drafted Kitsyn — sixth round, 2010 — he was under contract to a KHL team. He was allowed, by his team, to come to North America to play junior hockey for a year — he played for the Mississauga St. Michael’s Majors — but now he’s going back to play pro hockey in KHL, and has two years remaining on his contract. The Kings will still retain his NHL rights.