Kings

I guess Mike Cammalleri went through with his arbitration hearing.  I have to believe that there will be lingering hard feelings.  On the one hand, he was the leading scorer and has steadily increased his production each year without much of a team around him.  I would think that warrants a raise.  But I think it is hard for most teams to give big money to small sized players unless they are Kariya or St. Louis.  I'm wondering just where he fits in the rebuilding process, in Lombardi's eyes.  I also see him as a player that eventually gets away, and has success elsewhere.  (That sounds like the Dave Taylor era Kings....)

 

Was talking to a definite Kings fan on 4th of July.  He liked the signings that Lombardi made.  I do too, but don't put a whole lot of hope on them either.  I  mostly liked the short length of the deals.  If they all come together, he will look like a genius.  But if nothing happens, these guys' tryout is over and time to move on; without a lasting salary cap problem.  Kinda win-win.  Calder-Handzus-Nagy will help take the stress off Frolov and Kopitar.  And that seems to be the main point, getting some "mature" players that are still under 30, to add stability to the team without making it "old".  All of these forwards have question marks in their games, whether injury or consistency, so let's roll the dice and see what we get.  On defense, Preissing is highly under-rated in my mind and surprisingly versatile (on a very good Senators team).  Stuart is a little over-rated, but having two mobile defensemen is a big addition.  One of the better moves was the subtraction of Mathieu "Off Angle" Garon.  I wish him well, but don't mind seeing him leave LA.

 

I'm excited to see how the rookie players develop most of all.  It will be great to see Jason LaBarbera in net again.  He will be a definite wild card for next season; but he absolutlely tore-up the AHL last year, which will be great for his confidence.  I am still waiting for Dustin Brown to take the next step as a power forward, but I said that this time last year; and he seemed to take a step backward last season.  Jack Johnson will most likely get a year of mentoring from Rob Blake.  I've been waiting to see if the huge, Brian Boyle makes the team this year.  O'Sullivan will probably get his shot at full time NHL duty.  Tukonen will hopefully "pull a Kopitar" and impress right out of the gate, continuing the successful draft of relatively unknown euros.

 

Lots of unknowns.  Which is fun now.  But I didn't make it through December last year; before I was not watching the Kings games regularly.  PLEASE give me a reason to watch for the whole season.