WILLIE MITCHELL
This season: 57 games, 5 goals, 5 assists, 21 penalty minutes, 21:49 average ice time.
The good: The Kings took something of a risk last summer when they signed Mitchell — who was coming off a long-term concussion — to a two-year contract. Mitchell largely validated the Kings’ trust. As their oldest defenseman — at the still-young age of 33 — Mitchell proved to be an ultra-steady partner for both of the Kings’ top young defensemen, Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson. Mitchell’s excellent stick-work broke up countless scoring opportunities by opponents and he was exceedingly valuable on the penalty kill.
The bad: Mitchell’s head was fine this season — he had no recurrence of concussion symptoms — but he still missed 25 games because of injury. Given that Mitchell regularly played 68-plus games before the concussion, it’s not totally fair to tag him with the “injury prone” label, but until he can make it through the bulk of a season without a couple injuries, he’s still going to hear those whispers.
Going forward: Other teams might have been reluctant to offer Mitchell that second year when he was a free agent last summer. The Kings are glad they did. Mitchell doesn’t come cheap — he will make $3.4 million again next season — but as long as he can stay relatively healthy, continue his outstanding penalty-kill work and serve as a solid role model to players such as Doughty, Johnson and Alec Martinez, both on and off the ice, the Kings will get their money’s worth.
very solid second pair defecemain this this league. Diffrent style of play to an extend but reminds me of Aaron Miller in terms of ability. A solid box filler on the second line until Forbert is ready.
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He was excellent. A solid free agent pickup by DL – as rare as that has been in recent years.
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jet Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:15 pm
@rick,
Big Willy
Scuds
Zeus
Which year are you refering to?
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rick Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:34 pm
@jet, Calder, Ponikarovsky, Cloutier, Nagy, Stuart, etc. There have been plenty of misses in free agency. I agree that the 3 you mention are very solid.
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orphios Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:54 pm
yeah but Calder, Nag, and Stuart dont even count. These were transitional players at the time. DL knew we werent going to compete and he didnt have prospects to put in the boxes yet so he brought in some players to one and two year contracts to keep the boxe warm until he had better players in place. These players were never meant to be core but rather players he could trade for assets. I would argue they were great signs becaus they served their purpose. DL did miss with Poni, Cloutier and Preissing (given contract length) however
rick Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:59 pm
@orphios How can they not count? He put out big bucks for several of them, and they didn’t perform up to snuff. I didn’t realize GM’s in professional sports get mulligans. I also didn’t realize that Calder, Nagy or Stuart were traded for “assets”. Who are you referring to? Thanks for reminding me about Preissing, by the way. Another mistake.
39scars Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 4:27 pm
@rick, Stuart to the Wings for a 2 and 4. Brad Richardson and Linden Vey
Pressing for Symth
rick Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 6:20 pm
@39scars You are right about Stuart – I had forgotten about that. It’s a bit of a stretch to say that Preissing was traded for Smyth. Quincey was the centerpiece of that deal for the Avs – Preissing was a thrown in and salary dump only.
Dominick Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 6:25 pm
@rick,
Transitional players are the norm when trying to rebuild. For every Top player a team signs during those phazes, there’s 2 duds. Will still happen even though were working out of that phaze. That’s why the Kings are trying to aproach the problem differently than any other team, by building through the draft, and staggering them so that we don’t have to make those signings through free agency. Not a science, but at least there’s a direction starting to be established.
The duds are frustrating though.
Orphios Reply:
May 6th, 2011 at 3:57 am
but the duds are expected and they serve a purpose. They will a box until a core player is developed and they provide assets later when dealt for picks which can lead to core players. I honestly forget if we dealt Nagy and Calder specifically but my point still stands. GM’s do get mulligans in a way because you have to understand what a player is when you bring him in. Nagy wasnt brought in to be a top line player for a playoff team. He was here to fill a box until a Loki type player was ready or until we got a player more like Williams. In reality he was a third line player brought in to temparilly fill a first or second line box. The gm gets a mulligan because he knew what he was getting (albiet hoped he might catch lighting in a bottle). Fans just expect more sometimes so again those early signings were good signings because they served their role to get us to where we are today. In many cases, stayed healthy so we could trade them for draft picks to hopefully select future core players (which it seems like we did)
Awesome player. Steadying presence. Generally a very good and thoughful interviewee too. One of those players who I’m just super happy is a King.
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Dominick Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 6:30 pm
@Shakes,
I still think back to the interview last season when the Kings were down and he said “it was getting shinny out there” and everyone thought he said the word with 2 t’s in it.
Now when the Kings play bad, I say “that’s pretty shinny”.
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Solid player. i would like to see him on the kings for a few years more.
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Invaluable to this team and particularly to the development of the younger blue line men.
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“The true north strong and free”
Worth every dollar.
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Paul G Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 4:54 pm
@IceGuy, Thats how we do it up here
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Hope we can lock him after next year. would hate to see him go!
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Best FA signing of the DL era! Stay healthy my friend.
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Blurker Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 2:25 pm
@tornado12, Scuderi might disagree with you.
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Shakes Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 2:32 pm
@Blurker,
Scudds is The Piece after all…the rest is a puzzle…
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tornado12 Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 2:37 pm
@Blurker, i would agree, but I think we slightly overpaid for him. I realize he makes the exact same as mitchell, but WM I think brings a bit more physical play to his game and his shot is way better as well. But its a tough call.
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Token Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 4:41 pm
@tornado12, For a guy that is yet to play less than 70 games a season since he graduated from Boston College, Scuds does allright by his employers.
I think durability goes a long way in figuring net worth.
Love this guy and what he brought to our team. grade=A
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I would agree, likely his best free agent signing though I will say I dont even count those first few signings (Calder, that dude from the BlackHaws who’s name escapes me) as some of those signings were 1 year transitions as he began to build a reserve list. Nonetheless, good signing. I do question the idea of signing him after this year however. Age increases, speed decreases, and we eventually run into a Sean Odonnel situation wherehe was likely with us one year to long.
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jet Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:18 pm
@Orphios, OD looked like Philly’s only defencemen last night. Actually, Philly played pretty well last night for the first 12 seconds of the game.
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Great pickup DL. Would love for him to be around a few more years. The younger D on this team and the ones coming up can learn a lot from him.
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First “A” I’ve given to any player so far. Met and exceeded our expectations this year.
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Steve Jensen Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
@T-Raw,
Totally agree, and the second “A” I’ve given (Kopi.)
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The bonus was his offensive production–for a “stay at home” d-man. It hurt the team when he was out, and he’s great to work with JJ and DD. Plus I loved when he wore his “new” Kings sweater for his Vancouver Fishing Event after he signed!
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How good is Willie Mitchell? Well, how bout the fact that this guy is so good that he rarely takes a penalty. His tecnique of man to man defense, and use of the stick are so good that most coaches try to teach it, but very few can emulate it. The thing that surprised me the most about him when I first saw him at training camp was his amazing speed for a guy who is 6ft 3in. He was keeping up with everybody, shadowing them, and talking junk with them, and cracking jokes while he was all over them like a blanket! This was the guy that TM counted on the most during a crucial part of the game. This guy gets an easy A.
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Steve Jensen Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:46 pm
@puck73,
Just 21 penalty minutes for a Defensive D-man is sick.
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KingTrojan Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 4:12 pm
@Steve Jensen, Yup. And 5 of those were fighting Downie and knocking him down with a blindsided cross to the chin after he delivered a cheap shot to Doughty. That was the moment I fell in love with Mitchell.
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Kingsfanone Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 5:16 pm
@puck73,
How good is Willie Mitchell? You don’t even have to ask, that’s how good.
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Glad to see everyone is basically on the same page regarding Mitchie! His 34th birthday came on game 5 in San Jose, my wife made him a “Happy Birthday” sign. As the Kings were coming off the ice from their pre-game warm up, he looked at the sign and thanked her, as we were standing among all 12 Kings fans in the Shark tank. The Kings won that night, and Mitchie had a great game! I’d like to think we helped give a small emotional boost! Nicest guy in the world, hope we keep him!
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Best Kings defenseman this year. I can’t believe the media voted DD “best defenseman” at the end of the year. Mitchell was the most dependable defender on the team, and a great spokesman for the team in the media.
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39scars Reply:
May 6th, 2011 at 11:43 am
@Naturallawyer, They did? Davis only played 30 games. That can’t b right
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definition of a stay at home defensemen. Mitchell is an easy A player.
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Clearly our best defenseman imho. One of the best defensive sticks I’ve ever seen. The only time I saw him struggle a bit was for the same reason Scudes struggled at times … when paired with JJ.
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puck73 Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:42 pm
@KC23, Totally agree. JJ will destroy anybody’s plus minus, and Mitchell and Scuderi as good and consistent as they are are not immune to JJ’S Gaffe’s and inexperience.
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No one can say the Ducks troll doesn’t have a heart. Even he didn’t have the courage to give Willie an F. So he gave him a D+ instead. Remember that kindness youze guyz if you ever go to one of their sites….. then again, what if it’s a troll from another team?
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cpmc29 Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 4:30 pm
@number 6, you spoke to early. You know they’re going to be here till the end. The good thing is we are educated hockey fans and know the difference.
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First A from me too
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I think Im gonna give everybody at least a B. There Im done. Now lets get to the coach’s evaluation! That will be fun.
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I would have given Mitchell an “A” if he didn’t miss so much time. Otherwise, he was more than I expected. He showed a little offense and was rock solid defensively.
what a great signing by DL – there’s not much else to say other than i hope Mitchell can stay healthy next year for a full season and continue to be a rock on the blue line.
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I agree Mitchell is definitely our best defenseman and you know you can count on him to shut down teams first lines. Easy A in my book and hope he stays a few more years.
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easy A, I hope he can work with some of the kids over summer.
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jet Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:23 pm
@jet, Speaking of which, how many days to rookie camp?
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tornado12 Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 3:51 pm
@jet, waves probably has a countdown going on his site!
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First player to give an A to.. So much I can say about this man, but the season has ended which means my life has began. Now enjoying it
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Solid player, he epitomizes the lock down style that the Kings play by and was a great pick by DL. Deserves an A.
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Off topic but an interesting thought now that WASH has been eliminated yet again from the playoffs. They are obviously in need of a proven goaltender. The Kings are obviously in need of a top scoring forward. I will just throw this out: Quick for Semin.
Here’s my argument for this deal. First, the Kings would have to be given the opportunity to negotiate a contract deal with Semin, as he’s only signed through next season. The same opportunity should be afforded to WASH with Quick. I have nothing against Quick and have said so many times here, in fact I think he was the team’s overall MVP this season. Secondly, Bernier was drafted by the Kings to be a franchise goaltender. No one knew Quick would rise up and play as well as he has. But if the path still leads to Bernier being that franchise type goalie, and where he was drafted should lead everyone to believe that had to be the Kings plan, and nothing Bernier has done so far in his career, both in the minors and this year at the NHL level, should make anyone believe he’s not capable of being a #1, then this is a trade that makes sense for the Kings, and I would presume the Caps as well. Semin would be a big cap hit, presently and in the future. But, he is the type of top player the Kings need to move forward. Giving up Quick would be a gamble, but its a gamble that this team probably would have to make in another year or two anyway. And going forward, would that mean not finding that scorer that the team needs? It doesn’t look like that scorer will come from UFA’s, mainly because there aren’t really any of those types available other than Richards. Also, Quick has definitely proven himself, but he has not been able to raise his game late in the season or in the playoffs. Please DO NOT get me wrong, I am not blaming the playoff failure on him, but the fact is, this team has gone out in the 1st round each of the last 2 years, and this just might be the right offseason to pull the trigger on this type of deal.
I said here several days ago that the only way I’d be comfortable with trading either goalie (but Quick preferrably) would be in a blockbuster. I would consider this a blockbuster!
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mckinggolf Reply:
May 5th, 2011 at 7:43 pm
@Shotongoal, I think Parise from NJ would be a better pick. I would also prefer to give up Bernier before Quick.
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KC23 Reply:
May 6th, 2011 at 12:12 am
@mckinggolf, I would also take Parise over Semin, but both are outstanding. I don’t think we can go wrong with either Quick or Bernier. They both look like the real deal, although only Quick has really proven it so far.
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Puckn-A Reply:
May 6th, 2011 at 3:46 am
@Shotongoal, just to throw this out to the “Dustin Brown isn’t first line material” crowd, he outscored Semin. DB played more games but he also checks and plays D.
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Pesus Reply:
May 6th, 2011 at 9:48 am
@Shotongoal,
I think semin is another penner playing for TM. Parisie is better suited for our sytem. Dont think we can trade either goalie intill we find out how good bernier is. IMO Bernier will be better than Quick, maybe not in the shootout.
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Shotongoal Reply:
May 6th, 2011 at 11:34 am
@Pesus, I think a Quick for Parise trade would be satisfactory also. I just don’t know what NJ thoughts are needing a goalie or giving up Parise. I agree that I Bernier is the future. Like I said above, the Kings did too when they drafted him. You don’t draft a goalie that high unless you think he’s franchise material. Quick has just been a big, pleasant surprise.
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tuan jim Reply:
May 7th, 2011 at 3:49 am
@Shotongoal,
Willie Mitchell was one of the best deals that DL worked for the Kings. Another is getting Quick AND Bernier for the next two seasons for a total price of half what Burke arranged to pay Giguerre and close to $2 mil less than Boston pays Tim Thomas. And at the end of that two-year period Bernier is still only an RFA.
We’ve all discovered how bitter it can be to see an important starter go down with unexpected injury. Imagine where we’d be if Quick pulls a groin during a crucial part of the season and we don’t have Bernier ready to back him up. Where do we go? To Zatkoff? Or Jones? Remember how Bernier played when he first came to the NHL.
It took us so long — so-o-o-o long — to get reliable goaltending. Don’t be so anxious to upset a good thing just to get an eastern conference superstar who may prove to be a costly dud. Parise has class, and, yes, class doesn’t come cheap. But I’m not persuaded that we don’t have offensive weapons already in our system, whose skills are being mitigated by TM’s defensive program.
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tuan jim Reply:
May 7th, 2011 at 4:02 am
P.S. What I’m saying is — do not trade either goalie. Not yet, anyways.
Parse was injured and too rusty to make use of in the playoffs, but next season is a clean slate. Penner will be playing next year while heading toward free agency. It was his conditioning — not his skills — that elicited criticism. Dewey’s performance during the first part of this past year arose because he came to camp with a few too many cheeseburgers under his belt.
Clifford and Lewis are starting to show some pizzazz. They’ll only get better with more ice time. Is Schenn gonna remain in the AHL forever?
In short, all you guys who are salivating over blockbuster trades should keep it in your pants until we see what’s what, until we find out who’s available on the FREE agent market, without our having to spend assets other than increased payroll expense — and as for that payroll expense, who knows what will be permissible under the new CBA?
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Shotongoal Reply:
May 9th, 2011 at 7:43 am
@tuan jim, I’ll address your first reply first. I agree with your assessment of DL’s job with Mitchell and his signings of both Bernier and Quick. But, I don’t think you can run your team on worrying about who may or may not get hurt. Yes its important to have a deep roster, but a deep roster without the right components for success isn’t what I’m looking for in this team. I’ve been a fan of this team for 40 years and know how difficult and frustrating it has been to find legitimate goaltending. But, now this team has a handful of legitimate (Quick, Bernier) and prospects (Jones, Zatkoff, Berube) goaltenders. I put Bernier in the legit category because I think if he was given the starting job right now he would perform as he did in the second half of the season. His history proves that. As far as this team having the offensive skills from within to handle this scoring dilemma, well I don’t think DL would have made such a run at Kovalchuk if that was the case. And, this season didn’t do anything to change anyone’s mind that that type of scoring help is in the system right now.
As for your second reply, if not now, then when? Because the needs are there for some top teams, and the Kings have the product, and certainly their own need. It doesn’t look like it will come from UFA’s, unless Richards wants in, and that would be fine with me, he would address their need. Parse, really? Don’t sse him being the big scorer they need, he never has been, so why should we think he will be now? I agree that Penner should be better next year, hopefully! But I don’t think he fits into the teams plans after next year, no matter what he does. I’m not worried about Doughty, I think he learned a valuable lesson this year.
Clifford, I love, but don’t see him as that legitimate game changing goal scorer. Lewis, no not really IMO. I think Schenn is going to be a monster, but its going to take a couple of years, especially if Murray is still running this team.
As far as seeing what’s what, we can do that forever, I’ve already seen what’s what, and I think the Kings did too last year at this time when the chase was on for Kovalchuk, and nothing was done or has been done to address that need. I don’t think there will be anytime better than this offseason to address the need for scoring. If it can come from free agency, then so be it, that would be awesome, I just don’t see it happening. So that only leaves the trade option, and goaltending is a strength the Kings can deal from.
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A! I was always impressed with how calm he seems when he is on the ice. A great mentor to a team that prides itself on defense. Great signing and hopefully part of a sign (along with Scuds and Willie) that top level free agents will have the Kings on their radar as a place to play.
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Great pickup. He really made the D a strong 6 with Martinez stepping up.
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How do you not give this guy an A?
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Mitchell is a stud.
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IMO, DL’s best signing since he came to LA….A+
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A. When healthy, he was our best defensive player.
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Certainly deserves an A
We all had questions about Mitchell because of the concussions, but he proved his value to the Kings. Big defensive plays, big goals. He did it all for LA.
Hopefully he stays a littl more healthy next year. Terrific signing by DL
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this guy is such a pro. love having him on the team. didnt give him an A simply because of all the games missed.
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