LA KINGS OUTSIDER 2.0

I'm Guaranteeing That Willie Mitchell Works Out Better Than Sopel Did In L.A. After attending the Kings Development Camp in July; I became worried. The Kings lost Sean O’Donnell to free agency and had yet to sign a defenseman. Jake Muzzin wasn’t ready. Thomas Hickey wasn’t ready. Colten Teubert was hurt. Viatcheslav Voynov was missing and now threatening a move to Russia. Then the news broke that Matt Greene was going under the knife , all of a sudden, leaving two gaping holes to fill on the Kings blueline. I began searching the list of remaining free-agents for bargains (or scraps). Two names jumped out at me: Ruslan Salei and Mike Weaver . Salei has been steady his entire career up to last season when he battled back injuries last season. Mike Weaver left Los Angeles as a fringe NHL defenseman and has slowly developed into a solid reliable bottom-pairing defenseman for Vancouver and St. Louis. Both were snatched up within the week. Willie Mitchell was the only remai...

Time To Welcome Back Some Old Friends I have no idea what's going on with Ilya Kovalchuk and the Kings.  So here's some other random thoughts.   Brad Richardson's arbitration is coming up next week according to Hammer.   Unless the Kings reach agreement on a contract with Brad Richardson in the next week, he will have his arbitration hearing on July 23 in Toronto. I have no idea what type of money Richardson is looking for but if it's anything over a million; let him walk. He made $600,000 last season. He recorded 11 goals and 16 assists and was one of the Kings most consistent bottom-six forwards. With that said, the Kings need to play this smart. They haven't signed Kovalchuk yet because they're worried about keeping their 'core' together. Richie was useful but he's not a core player. He's a bottom-six grinder that can occasionally chip in offensively. Does he deserve anything more than the 2-year, $1.8 million contract Scott Parse got...

Thanks For The Memories Fro   As we reach Day 14 of the Ilya Kovalchuk saga; I began to put together a list of possible alternatives in case Kovy decides to go elsewhere.  One of those options was obviously bringing back Alexander Frolov.  According to Dmitry Chesnokov, a regular contributor on Yahoo's PuckDaddy blog, Frolov doesn't have much interest in returning to Los Angeles. Frolov's agent: "We have a offers from a few NHL teams; 99% certainty Frolov won't stay in LA; Frolov will make a decision w/in 10 days."   Can't blame him really.  His asking price will have to come down for any team to sign him but the Kings pretty much walked him out the door.  Good luck to Fro wherever he goes.  I think the Kings are going to miss him alot more than they realize.  His puck-possession in the corners and constant wrap-around attempts frustrated fans but who else on the current team can do that?

The Kings Need Don King To Sell L.A. To Kovy Tomorrow So what's the latest on Kovalchuk?  He's coming to LA!...for a meeting ?  If he's coming to hear Kings executives pitch the organization and city again; I think the Kings are close.  I think we might hear something as soon as tomorrow.  Or maybe Deano will stand firm and watch Kovy skate back over to Jersey.  Or to Russia.  Or maybe he'll take another meeting with the Ducks!  Who knows! Congratulations to Spain on their World Cup Finals victory.  And congrats to Matt Greene and Germany for finishing third.  OK.  So that's German midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger but I thought there was quite a resemblance...

Maxim Kitsyn: Apollo Creed Never Had A Chance First off, let me just say that I'm kind of a big deal...haha...OK. Just kidding. But my photographs of the Kings Development Camp are on Rich Hammond's blog . I sent them to Rich and he was kind enough to share them with his readers. I spent Wednesday and Thursday shooting the scrimmages so most of my impressions will be based on what I saw during the one-hour scrimmage on Friday morning. First off, the scrimmages were missing alot of big names: Jonathan Bernier, Brayden Schenn, Andrei Loktionov, Viatcheslav Voynov, Colten Teubert and Brandon Kozun. Those six players are arguably the best six in the Kings farm system right now. With that said, this camp gave us a glimpse of all the recent Kings draft picks and second-tier prospects.  I'll start with the recent draftees.

If Ilya's too expensive... With Free Agency opening up in a few hours.  Here's my shopping list for the top FA's available.  It's a shallow class but let's take a look. PRIORITIES 1. Top-line goal scoring winger. 2. Two Top-four defenseman 3. Second-line center

Former Kings defenseman Rob Flake is announcing his retirement Friday .  Yawn. The Kings signed 25-year old defenseman Johan Fransson to a one-year contract .  Looks like the Kings may have a diamond in the rough here with Fransson.  A former first-round pick of the Dallas Stars; Fransson's rights were acquired when the Kings dealt Mattias Norstrom in 2007. I'm not going to act like I know who this Fransson kid but I did a bit of research and here's what I found.  Read it after the jump.

Scott Parse: $1.8 million richer! The Kings re-signed Scott Parse to a two-year contract worth $1.8 million.  I guess I was wrong with my prediction. I wouldn't be surprised if the Kings let Parse walk this off-season.  If the Kings can bring him back on a two-way deal with similar cap hit; go for it. He had a strong rookie campaign with 11 goals and 13 assists in 59 games played.  And I should have known better with Dean Lombardi's 'Asset Management Principles.' The question remains: Where does Parse fit in the lineup?  Read more after the jump...

I'd Miss Fro's Wrap-Around Attempts Let the speculation begin.  The Kings have nine free-agents going into the summer.  Six UFA's.  Three RFA's.  If it were up to Helene Elliot; she wouldn't want any of them back.   You can see what she says and what I think about the Six UFA's after the jump....