Tomorrow morning, when the free-agent signing period begins, we start to learn the answers. So here’s a final question, and perhaps the biggest one: where will Brad Richards end up? Not surprisingly, given that he’s the top attraction on the free-agent forward market, Richards will not lack for suitors… Which team will sign Brad Richards?survey [...]

We’re one day away from the start of the signing period for unrestricted free agents, a day during which NHL general managers will lavish millions of dollars on players. On the eve of the free-agency period, it’s interesting to note that two of the players who signed the biggest long-term contracts in 2007 — Chris [...]

The never-ending Mulletgate story took another turn this morning when it was revealed — first by TSN — that forward Colin Fraser, acquired by the Kings in the trade that sent Ryan Smyth to Edmonton, apparently has an injury that might cause him to miss the first two months of the season. The trade can’t/won’t [...]

Kings assistant coach John Stevens talked to Scott Laughlin, on the SiriusXM show “Power Play,” about the trade for Mike Richards. Stevens certainly knows Richards well. He coached Richards on the 2004-05 Philadelphia Phantoms team that won the AHL championship, then spent the next three-plus seasons with Richards as part of the Flyers’ coaching staff. [...]

We’re less than 48 hours away from the start of the signing period for unrestricted free agents, so it’s certainly worth taking a look at which players will be available. Here’s one subjective list, including players, their salary-cap hits from last season and their statistics from last season. This excludes players such as Nicklas Lidstrom [...]

Remember the name Rob Bordson in a couple years, when he’s the answer to a Nick Nickson trivia question on Kings Talk… As expected — and noted in this post from Thursday — the Kings did not tender a qualifying offer to Bordson, who was acquired from Philadelphia in the Mike Richards trade. You’re all [...]

First, for those who might have been out enjoying the Southern California weather over the weekend, you can catch up on what the Kings did at the NHL draft by reading by LAKings.com story, available by clicking here. Second, in case it wasn’t clear before, they really, really like Ryan Smyth in Edmonton. Like, a [...]

Ryan Smyth has a conference call going on now to talk about his move back to Edmonton. Smyth made an opening statement, in which he offered thanks to the Kings organization — specifically Tim Leiweke, Philip Anschutz, Dean Lombardi and Ron Hextall — and thanked Lombardi for “accepting my wish to come back to the [...]

Today’s interview with Dean Lombardi started with this gem: “Making the Ryan Smyth deal was probably harder than making the Gretzky deal.” A joke but, in reality, probably not that far off-base. Here’s what Lombardi said today about (finally) completing the Smyth trade, about the potential of keeping Colin Fraser, about contract talks with Drew [...]

Based on a conversation with Dean Lombardi — full quotes to follow soon — here’s some of the rundown of what happened with the Kings in the last couple days and what could happen in the next few days… – Without naming names — because, technically, it could be considered tampering if Lombardi says the [...]

The Kings have finally completed a trade with the Edmonton Oilers. They will sent Ryan Smyth to Edmonton in exchange for forward Colin Fraser and a seventh-round pick in 2012. Fraser is a essentially a depth forward, a 26-year-old center who totaled three goals and two assists in 67 games last season and has 41 [...]

Looking back at the Mike Richards trade for a moment, Brayden Schenn shared his thoughts about the deal — and his move to the Flyers — with the Philadelphia media. Incidentally, Schenn happened to be participating in Jarret Stoll’s charity gulf tournament in Saskatchewan at the time. It seems as though Wayne Simmonds has not [...]

Dean Lombardi’s full post-draft chat with reporters is posted here below. Again, to be clear, without saying so, Lombardi is referencing the Kings’ willingness to take back Gilbert Brule from Edmonton, knowing full well that they don’t intend to keep Brule and need to use that salary-cap space to replace Ryan Smyth. This interview starts [...]

I’ll have the transcript posted ASAP, but Dean Lombardi spoke at the end of the draft today and discussed the apparent collapse of the Ryan Smyth trade with Edmonton. Lombardi did not mention Gilbert Brule’s name specifically — no tampering — but basically said the deal fell apart because it didn’t allow him enough flexibility. [...]

Chris Gibson, Nick Shore and Michael Mersch, three of the newest Kings prospects, did some interviews today after being drafted. Here are some of the highlights of those interviews, followed by links to the full interviews… GIBSON: “I’m very excited to be an L.A. King right now. It was a long day yesterday, waiting for [...]

Displaying an astounding ability to turn something simple into something complicated, the Kings and Edmonton Oilers have still yet to finalize this Ryan Smyth trade. This recent blog post from TSN’s Darren Dreger sums it all up nicely. The teams agreed on the trade but apparently are now bickering about Gilbert Brule’s health. By all [...]

For those who might not have followed the draft live this morning, here’s a recap of the way things went for the Kings. They made five picks and made one trade, as they sent their sixth-round pick plus a 2012 third-round pick to Nashville in exchange for this year’s No. 82 overall pick (third round). [...]

With their seventh-round pick (No. 200), the Kings selected left winger Michael Schumacher, out of Sweden. Schumacher, 17, played 22 games in the Superelit, Sweden’s top junior league, this past season and had four goals and three assists for Frolunda HC. He is listed at 6-foot-3 and 198 pounds. Schumacher had previously played for Frolunda [...]

With their fifth-round pick (No. 140 overall), the Kings selected left winger Joel Lowry from Victoria of the BCHL. Lowry, 19, is listed at 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds and was ranked as the No. 95 North American skater by Central Scouting. He had 24 goals and 43 assists in 42 games for Victoria last season. [...]

With their fourth-round pick (No. 110 overall), the Kings selected left winger Michael Mersch out of the University of Wisconsin. Mersch, 18, had 19 points in 41 games in his freshman season with the Badgers. Mersch is listed at 6-foot-2, 198 pounds, and was the No. 83 North American skater in the NHL Central Scouting [...]