I just got off the phone with Matt Greene, who went under the knife to repair his shoulder, a procedure with an estimated recovery time of 3-4 months. Greene said that he had the shoulder examined recently due to “general wear and tear,” but that examination revealed labrum and rotator-cuff issues, as well as bone spurs and arthritis. So, pretty much everything…

Here’s the interview I did earlier with Dean Lombardi, regarding his signing of Alexei Ponikarovsky and related issues…

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Question: Is Ponikarovsky someone you had your eye on from the beginning, or was this more of a reaction to the way the month has played out?

LOMBARDI: “Well, obviously we all know what happened, spending all those days working on Kovalchuk, so to say that we were looking at him from the beginning, I wouldn’t say that’s very practical.”

Question: But did you think of him as some type of “Plan B,” at least, or did you just start looking at him in recent days?

LOMBARDI: “That’s fair. One of the things that has made this process totally unique is that we spent some much energy, 18 days, on the other guy. Sure, you put down on paper that there were certain other players, but that was one of the frustrating things about that whole process there, not only that it took so long to get done but that we weren’t even close. But certainly it’s safe to say that he was always a viable option all along. It’s just that we couldn’t get to it, even after the contract was done, because then you have the whole nonsense going on with the union there.”

Continue reading ‘Lombardi, on Ponikarovsky’ »

Here’s what Terry Murray said today about the Kings’ signing of Alexei Ponikarovsky…

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Question: From your time in Philadelphia, what do you remember about Ponikarovsky and what type of game he plays?

MURRAY: “Ponikarovsky, he’s a hard-working guy. He’s going to play at both ends of the rink. He’s a big-bodied guy who can play in those tight spaces and protect the puck along the boards. He’s going to create from down low. He’s going to be a presence around the net and score goals. He has been a 20-goal scorer over the last few years, and I’d like to think that there’s always room for improvement on that side of it and that hopefully he can get those numbers up. i think, often times, when you look at a player, especially a European player, you wish that they would take advantage of more of the opportunities that they put themselves in, instead of looking for that one more option. He’s got a great shot. He’s just going to be a good complement to our hockey club. He will play in all situations. He’s a penalty-killer and a good power-play guy and he’s a good 5-on-5 player at both ends of the ice.”

Question: Going into training camp, is there the possibility that he might fill that left-wing role alongside Handzus and Simmonds?

MURRAY: “Well, this deal is something that just happened, so I haven’t really had any time to give it that much thought. But if I was to put it down on paper right this minute, as to where the fit would happen, that gives you three big men who pay attention to the checking part of the game and, at the same time, are going to have the puck and be able to create stuff in the offensive zone. So that’s probably our first look at it.”

We’re going to have to come up with shorthand for this guy, because Ponikarovsky really fills a headline…

Anyway, I’ve talked to both Dean Lombardi and Terry Murray about this signing within the last hour, and I’ll have the extensive quotes when I have time to transcribe them, but here are some highlights…

– The Kings liked Ponikarovsky last year and went after him before he was traded to Pittsburgh.

– The belief is that Ponikarovsky has the potential to fill that third-line left-wing role, alongside Handzus and Simmonds. Lombardi described him as being a stronger skater than Frolov, but perhaps less skilled with the puck.

– Lombardi said he talked to Alexander Frolov shortly after the (now-contested) Kovalchuk signing with New Jersey, but that it seemed clear that Frolov was interested in moving on.

– Speaking of moving on, Lombardi said he’s not keen on waiting to see how the Kovalchuk drama plays out, and that he is mulling one trade option in his mind. For obvious reasons, he didn’t disclose the player.

I’ll try to get these quotes up fairly soon. I also have a number for Ponikarovsky, so I’ll try to get to that at some point also.

Alexei Ponikarovsky got a one-year, $3-million contract from the Kings, the same contract that Alexander Frolov got from the New York Rangers. Capgeek.com has a look at the Kings’ salary structure here.

Alexei Ponikarovsky is reportedly joining the Kings on a one-year contract, and I should be able to get details shortly. Ponikarovsky, 30, is listed at 6-foot-4, 220 pounds, and is a left winger (a native of Kiev) who has been in the NHL for parts of nine seasons, with Toronto and Pittsburgh. He’s a four-time 20-goal scorer who, statistically, had his best season in 2008-09, when he had 23 goals and 38 assists in 82 games.

Some video clips of Ponikarovsky from last season can be found here.

Still up north vacationing, but I received word that the Kings have reached agreement with Alexei Ponikarovsky. More details to come as they’re available. This comes on the heels of Alexander Frolov joining the New Yorl Rangers, and with the Kovalchuk situation headed for arbitration.

The Ilya Kovalchuk mini-series has entered the third chapter, with the league seeking to nullify the contract Kovalchuk signed with New Jersey. Dean Lombardi said tonight that the Kings would remain interested in signing Kovalchuk should the opportunity present itself, but it’s likely that the union will get involved and seek to uphold the deal. The real question is, how long will this whole process take?

People are starting to get a look at Ilya Kovalchuk’s new contract. Seems as though it’s for 17 years and $102 million, with a massive but curious form of frontloading. I’m told that, in real dollars, Kovalchuk will make $6 million in the first two seasons and $11.5 million, the maximum allowable, in each of the following five seasons. Over the first 10 years of the contract, Kovalchuk will make $96 million. Numbers like that make it clear that the Kings weren’t even in the same ballpark, in terms of the numbers that mattered to Kovalchuk.

Here is the second part of the Dean Lombardi interview…

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Question: Going forward, what is the plan now? What will you try to get done for the rest of the summer, and is there still time to get some momentum going?

LOMBARDI: “Yeah. Obviously you put a lot of work into it, and you’d like it to work, but whether it’s this type of deal or something else, if it doesn’t come to fruition, you go back to the drawing board. You can’t hang your head or anything. We gave it our best shot, there’s no doubt about it. We are, in no way, off plan. I’ve said this before, that I had projected probably doing this type of free agent after next year. That was my gut. You know how I feel about the core developing in the room, and putting that in place before you start diving into some of these other things. In the second half of last year, they showed me that they were going to hang together and deal with the pressure. So I was willing, I guess, to accelerate by going to this avenue to improve the team a year earlier, for me, and I guess push our way through this a little quicker. So for me, it doesn’t come to fruition, but we certainly aren’t off from what we’ve set out to do. Somebody else will come up. It’s got to be the right deal.

Continue reading ‘Lombardi quotes, part 2’ »

Here’s the first part of today’s post-Kovalchuk interview with Dean Lombardi. The second part will touch more on what will happen going forward…

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Question: Did you have any idea, before today, that he would be signing in New Jersey, or did you feel like you were in it until the end?

LOMBARDI: “I really didn’t know. Thursday, we made our final offer, and he said he wanted until Monday to think about it, and that was it. So there were no discussions during the weekend, and that was it. So when you ask if we were in it, I don’t know how else to answer that. When you give your final offer and they tell you they’ll consider it, I guess you’re in it. That’s all you can do. You push the envelope in a number of areas, do the best you can do and come up with your best offer, that works on so many fronts. It didn’t work, so we move on.

Continue reading ‘Lombardi quotes, part I’ »

I don’t have the ability to look at other sites/sources right now, so I apologize if this is already out there, but the Kings’ last offer was indeed for 15 years and $80 million. It was presented Thursday, and nobody knew until today which offer/team Kovalchuk would choose.

I’ll have some extensive quotes from Dean Lombardi later today.

I’m mobile right now, but for those who haven’t already seen the news, the New Jersey Devils have announced that they have re-signed Ilya Kovalchuk. Hopefully, someone from the Kings will be available to discuss what happened in their negotiations, and talk about what their plan might be going forward. I’ll certainly keep everyone updated as information is available…

The Kings have now locked up all their restricted free agents for next season, as Rich Clune, Corey Elkins and Trevor Lewis have signed one-year contracts. (UPDATE: I’m told that all the players accepted their qualifying offers.)

Nothing new on the Ilya Kovalchuk front, although you can be almost certain that something will break soon. Why? Because I’m leaving tomorrow for my annual trip. So I’ll be lugging around the laptop like it’s the president’s “nuclear football,” and I’ll wait for the latest developments. In life, timing is everything!

Brad Richardson has avoided arbitration and signed a one-year, $900,000 contract with the Kings.

Just to clarify, there’s not yet any deal finalized between the Kings and Ilya Kovalchuk, but it’s starting to feel as though it could happen at any time. A couple people are starting to get more cryptic with their denials, so we shall see. It’s worth noting that Tim Leiweke is doing business in Europe this week, which has the potential to complicate management approval because of the time difference. Presumably, the sides are talking long term, and remember that every free agent who signs a medium-to-long-range deal is going to have his eyes on 2012, when the potential for labor strife exists. If there’s a lockout — and Donald Fehr looms large for the players’ association — players will do their best to guarantee themselves money that year, because they wouldn’t be drawing a regular paycheck. This was a big part of the “Money Players” book I mentioned a few days ago, in reference to 2004-05. Anyway, we’ll see if anything develops tonight.

In some actual Kings news, Marc-Andre Cliche accepted his qualifying offer yesterday. He will make $660,000 next season and is eligible to become a restricted free agent again next summer. I thought about going with a “Kings sign forward” headline, but decided I didn’t want to deal with the bomb threats.

I’ve not heard of any changes on the Kovalchuk front today. Sides still talking, no indication that anything is imminent.

A couple notes…

– 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.

– Tickets for the Kings’ “Hockey Fest,” to be held Sept. 11 at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, go on sale today, and 2,000 tickets are available. Tickets cost $15 for Kings season-ticket members, and Partial Plan and Group Leaders and are available at 1-888-KINGS-LA (1-888-54647-52). Tickets for the public are $20 and are available at LAKings.com/hockeyfest2010. The Kings have said that the event “will feature special Q&A and autograph sessions with Kings players, coaches, alumni and hockey dignitaries, in addition to Kings merchandise – including merchandise discounted at 40 percent — and hockey memorabilia being available,” with more details to be announced later.

– The Hockey News has a nice feature on Kings goalie prospect Jeff Zatkoff…

Prospect Watch: Jeff Zatkoff

It doesn’t appear as though there will be any Ilya Kovalchuk drama this afternoon or tonight. Kovalchuk’s agent, Jay Grossman, was scheduled to return to New York today, but beyond that, it doesn’t appear that anything has changed. Onward to Day 15, it seems.

In local news, for those curious about the players’ summer plans, a handful of current Kings will start their summer workouts in El Segundo next week. You might remember that last year’s summer work was touted by coaches and players as a significant time for team bonding, and this year, approximately half the team is scheduled to show up, at one point or another, during the next two weeks. That’s roughly the same number as last year, I believe.

As we commemorate the two-week mark of the Kovalchuk drama — Remember July 1? It was a much simpler time… — let’s look at what seems to be a moderately-held misconception about contracts in the salary-cap era, such as the idea that a contract that pays an average of $8.5 million a year is always, by definition, better than a contract that pays an average of $6.5 million a year. Let’s break it down.

Let’s say — and these are ALL hypothetical numbers — that Team A offered a 27-year-old star player a 13-year, $84.5-million contract. That’s $6.5 million a year. Then let’s say Team B offered the same player a seven-year, $59.5-million contract. That’s $8.5 million a year. Slam dunk, right? You take the one that pays $2 million more per year. No, not necessarily. Not if you’re looking long term and playing it in a more conservative fashion.

Team B’s contract would pay the player big money during his prime years, and he would be a free agent again in 2017, at age 34. Team A’s contract would pay the player essentially for the rest of his career, until age 40. That’s the big difference. In the salary-cap era, a team will often seek to front-load in order to keep the cap number (average salary) down, because the salary cap is based on average salary, not on actual dollars paid per year.

So let’s look at the two offers side by side.

Continue reading ‘Salary-cap math’ »