alt="LA Kings Insider with Rich Hammond" />Randy Jones, claimed off waivers from Philadelphia today, makes $2.75 million this season, but because the Kings got him off re-entry waivers, they’ll only have to pay half of that salary. Jones is due to be an unrestricted free agent next summer.
Jones, 28, had been in the Flyers’ system since 2003, so both Dean Lombardi and Terry Murray had familiarity with him. Jones has appeared in 217 NHL games, over parts of five seasons, with 13 goals, 56 assists and 134 penalty minutes. This season, he played six games for the Adirondack Phantoms of the AHL. At 6-foot-2, 205 pounds, with a left shot, Jones loosely fits the role that Denis Gauthier previously filled for the Kings (although it’s not a direct comparison).
Jones is probably best known in the NHL for his 2007 hit from behind on Boston’s Patrice Bergeron, which gave Bergeron a concussion. Jones was suspended for two games for that hit.
Murray, who served as an assistant coach in Philadelphia when Jones played there, said Jones would arrive in L.A. on Friday and described Jones as “thrilled. He’s very, very excited, looking forward to joining us and getting back into the NHL.” More from Murray…
(on Jones’ game…)
MURRAY: “Well, he’s a pretty good player. He’s a player who plays in all situations. He can play on your power play. He’s a good penalty-kill defending player. He’s a pretty good all-around player, so when he does get into the lineup, there won’t be any hesitation in any one of those situations.”
(on whether the Kings acquired Jones because they needed defensive depth or because they wanted him regardless…)
MURRAY: “Well, I don’t want to get into it on an organization side of things, but from the coaching side of it, he’s an NHL player. With Martinez injured, and how that’s coming along, it could be still a little bit of time before he’s ready to go. This gives us depth at that position, that maybe we were a little bit concerned about.”
(on whether Jones will go into the lineup right away…)
MURRAY: “I think, when you get a new player coming in like this… We have some practice time now. After today, we’ve got a couple days of practice, (then) play and a couple more days of practice. So we’ll get him acclimated to the structure and the system and then we go from there. I really like what our group of defensemen are doing right now, so I’m not going to disrupt it, but the depth is an issue that we did have some concerns about, coming through the early part of the season, and now we’re in pretty decent shape in that look.”
Good pickup. Takes away the concern of Odie’s body fading towards the end of the season, and means we can keep Harrold with Richardson as a forward on the 4th line (where he will still play his moderately effective defensive checking role).
Beyond that, he brings an additional Gauthier-like edge to the Kings which has a tangible effect on the other team when he’s on the ice. TM’s right – our depth at D has gone from questionable to looking extremely promising.
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Good pickup…TM is familiar with him and provides more depth. Instead of rushing Hickey or Voinov, you can insert a veteran.
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I don’t know jones at all really. Any decent shot from the point?
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Well “Sleepy O’Donnell” could use a break for a few games, and we could use someone to make some big hits on the back end cause JMFJ sure isn’t doing it…Who are we going to get to take the place of Zues here in the next year or two and what about Stoll, he just has a painfull look on his face when he plays…..i can see a few holes that will need to be filled soon…
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He’s a puck mover. I’m not sure if I’m imagining this, so don’t quote me on it, but I’m pretty sure he was fairly high up Philly’s D depth chart not that long ago. He’s fallen out of favor more recently with them, although clearly they cannot be happy about him being plucked off waivers.
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Doesn’t TM or DL have any confidence on their farm team.
Drew Bagnall and Joe Piskula are both in their mid 20’s and have put in at least 3 years in the minors.
This pick-up proves two things.
-a slap in the face to those D-men working their tail off in the bushes, trying desperately to impress management.
-mananagements loyalty to the Philadelphis Flyers.
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anthony,
Should a sense of “loyalty” trump granting a spot to a player that is better suited for it? Jones is a multi-year NHL veteran.
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PS: We’re not rebuilding any more. This is it. Time to add vets, not try out the new kids.
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“He’s a pretty good player.” That’s why he keeps getting waived, I guess. Flyers fans hate the guy… he’s Modry all over again, except Jones actually deserves his reputation.
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Never heard of this guy. I’m a little confused about the whole situation. Why do we need him?
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Oh good lord…not every prospect makes it to the big club or is ready after 3 years in the minors…that doesn’t mean anyhing…there has to be a reason guys like that stay down to continue to play everyday in favor of picking up a proven NHL player to fill a roll at this point…and really the Flyers thing is just so old.
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I’m not too fond of Jones, but he is better than any other 7th D-man we have in the organization, although I personally would have liked to see Bagnall or Piskulla get a fair chance first.
Nevertheless, the Kings gave up nothing for him, and judging by the looks of it, I think DL is has something brewing, maybe package of Frolov and Drewiski for a player or two??
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Anthony,
NHL experience that Jones has outweighs the 3 years of minor experience of the players you mentioned. This is a good signing incase one of our D-men get injured sometime during the season. Don’t over-dramatize this signing
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I wonder if he did this to tick off Holmgren like he did with Burke at the draft.
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Nice quick, detailed report, Rich!
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PLEASE don’t turn this in to a rumor mill, Khanon. I’m so sick of hearing about baseless frolov trade rumors.
As long as this guy remains the 7th man, I dont really care. From what I’ve heard he’s not that great.
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This move proves one thing: Randy Jones is a King.
The rest, we shall see.
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I’m starting to really believe this whole Philly conspiracy thing. Case in point – Scuderi and Smyth pick ups this off season.
Scuderi played for Pittsburgh, and everyone knows Pitt and Philly are in the same state.
Ryan Smyth has a Y in both his first and last name, there is a Y in Flyers. Coincidence? I think not. :)
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Kinda off the subject but that before the bigs last night on JMFJ showed he knows how to play big and throw the body around. so why is he not doing that now. if he played how he played in his showcase last night then we would have no problems
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Why was the 1st thought in my mind when I heard the Kings put in a claim in for Jones was that Athonyy would have another “Phili Connection” post.
Good insurance policy pickup.
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JWR
It was inevitable
Anthony..on a serious note…I Don’t understand the problem with poaching players from a top organization like the Flyers.
why do you think that’s a bad thing?
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Oh how I love the trade rumors that get started on here. How did the signing of Jones turn into trading Whiskey? Leave the trades to DL and enjoy the ride the Kings are on right now.
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I also have a hard time seeing loyalty to the Flyers when we just stole one of their players and made them pay half the salary for the rest of the season…does it help their cap, yes, but this guy was gone July 1st anyways, so that makes no sense….it looks to be a depth move, his play will determine whether it was a good move or not
Jeff – Excellent post, cracked me up
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“This pick-up proves two things.
-a slap in the face to those D-men working their tail off in the bushes, trying desperately to impress management.”
And those hard working D-men still aren’t good enough to impress anyone or make the NHL. I think that is what has been proven so far.
“-mananagements loyalty to the Philadelphis Flyers.”
Huh? At most this proves managements tendancy to go with commodities they know. I have no clue what you actually mean by “loyalty” here. Well, you know, no clue as to what might make sense.
I’ve failed to understand this “criticism” of DL. He goes too much with known quantities and guys he actually has first hand knowledge of, and that’s bad for some reason?
So far, I think people would be happy with Murray. I think Handzus people are satisfied with once he got over injuries. Williams has only had a short time to show what he can bring, and that was a point a game this season before being injured. Where is the big negative to the PHI related moves that have been made again?
There had been talk about adding a veteran defender before the season started, so it’s not like this kind of move should have been unexpected.
Jones had injury issues that kept him from playing his potential after signning a fairly big extension (2 years at $6M total), and then became the victim of the salary cap. Picking him up for half his salary doesn’t sounds bad at all if he’s healthy.
If there is any valid criticism to jump on DL for with this move, it might be his tendancy to take chances on damaged goods. Cloutier and Hadzus certainly demonstrate that to some extent. Williams probably less so, because I don’t think his current injury is related to past issues. Now with Jones, we shall see.
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Yeah it totally has to be a conspiracy….. Especially if WWAMD, Anthony, and their peeps say it is!!!!
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Drewiskie is going nowhere these fake fro trades are getting so annoying stop with this….I’m diggin this pick up this kid seems to be a rough guy who has a lot of assists and looks good to play randomly for the kings
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Khanon — I wouldn’t trade Drewiske for anything right now. He’s as steady as it comes on the blueline for the Kings. I think it’s abundantly clear that he’s hands the best defensive defensemen the Kings have right now, and he only costs $600K in cap space. Thats a huge plus.
Matt Greene — Intangibles or not, I can live without. I’m not sure if its just me, but I notice him making the most mistakes in the D zone.
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PakiFro, as of Oct 29, Matt Greene is 5th in the NHL in blocked shots.
This little fact is often missed because action is going so fast, typically, when teams are going after scoring chances that we never hear from the announcers who the shot blocker is.
Greene and Scuderi (who is also top 30 in the league in shot blocking) put their bodies on the line night in and night out in defending “home plate” and I for one am glad they are there doing it. The Kings probably would have lost in regulation vs the Sharks last night without their high level of shot blocking.
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nykingfan -
because it’s the only way he gets to see his name on the internet is when he thinks of something stupid to post on here…I can just see him laughing and clapping his hands everytime his name pops up on the screen…
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Welcome to LA Randy!
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Jones should bolster the depth at D. Also give Sean O. a break now and then. Good move overall. Philly’s gotta be stewing.
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Am I the only one who thinks Drewiske isn’t that good?
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Paul,
Drewiske has played 13 games. The Kings have only had one, count’em one, even strength goal scored against them when he is on the ice, and that was last night when Marleau flew around his partner Greene and scored on a nice shot, so not Whiskey’s fault. So yes, Paul, you are the only one. :)
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I would rather trade JJ than Drewiske right now… he’s been the unsung hero on D this year.
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I’m not sold on Drewiske as an impact player, per se.
For his size, I’d like to see more banging around out there by him.
I haven’t noticed any glaring weakness, however, either.
But, I haven’t seen all the games this year, so I’d have to vote undecided, for now.
My question is, why do we have Piskula? Eternally Manchester?
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Jeff -
That was the funniest thing I read today :)
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Tantrum,
Replace the “he”s with “I”s in your post and I think you’re coming close to the truth.
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Just read Drewiske’s player profile on hockey’s future. Pretty spot on…
Drewiske is an intelligent two-way defenseman with very strong leadership skills. While he has good offensive ability, it is his outstanding defensive play that stands out more. He is very good in one-on-one situations and does a superb job of staying with his assignment. He has great on-ice vision, follows plays exceedingly well and is rarely caught out of position.
Another great attribute that Drewiske possesses is his puck skills. His patience with and distribution of the puck, as well as his smart decisions with it made him a regular on the power play for much of his collegiate career. He makes nice outlet and tape-to-tape passes. While Drewiske will get involved in the offensive side, it almost never comes at the expense of his defensive responsibilities. Drewiske possesses a good, hard shot and can get pucks to the net. He has decent foot speed and skates with powerful strides.
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“This pick-up proves two things.
-a slap in the face to those D-men working their tail off in the bushes, trying desperately to impress management.”
This comment will give me a good laugh all weekend.
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Drewiske seems to thrive within TM’s or Harpo’s defensive scheme. He seems comfortable back there in his position and does the right things in different situations. Maybe it’s overlooked everytime the Kings transition smoothly to offense on gaining puck possession or clear the puck in the defensive zone.
I don’t think he necessarily has to bang bodies to be effective, although he has done it. He looks like a pretty efficient player.
At worst, I saw him cough up the puck a couple of times in the defensive zone this year but only to neutralize the turnover by following through and sticking to his man.
But I think so far so good on Drewiske.
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Drewiski’s a plus 7, tied for 4th in the league.
Nuff said
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Good one cristobal, did you learn comeback in class today?
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Khanon,
You will like Jones….. He is gritty, and will put down the Mitts once in a while.
Drewiskie is best +/- and he is cheap.
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I feel that adding Jones is a good move for the price,I do agree that Fro and Whiskey ( cool nickname btw )will not be traded.. Davis’s stats are real good and Fro’s showing some life and heart lately.. And do not forget that next years UFA’s…I do see both Stoll and Zues playing out their contracts
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