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 [...]

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

Here’s what Terry Murray said today about the Kings’ signing of Alexei Ponikarovsky… —– 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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

Here is the second part of the Dean Lombardi interview… —– 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 [...]

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… —– 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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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. [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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 [...]

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, [...]

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, [...]