As noted earlier, it’s a big week in terms of the NHL offseason. The NHL Awards are taking place in Las Vegas on Wednesday — Dustin Brown is a finalist for the NHL Foundation Players Award — then there’s the NHL Draft in St. Paul on Friday and Saturday. Sometime this week, I’m also expecting the 2011-12 regular-season schedule to be released. Last I heard, the league was trying to iron out a few of the final details. As you might imagine, the late swap of Winnipeg for Atlanta caused a couple wrinkles.
So, stay tuned here and at LAKings.com for the latest. Heidi Androl will be in Las Vegas for the awards ceremony, while Daryl Evans and the KingsVision crew will be in Minnesota filing video reports and Twitter updates (@LAKings). And, of course, on the blog we’ll have coverage of it all, so it should be a fun week…
Heidi Androl should be staring in ‘CRAZY GIRLS.’
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RYAN SMYTH TELLS KINGS HE’D PREFER TO REJOIN OILERS
BOB MCKENZIE
http://www.tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=369517
Sounds like Ryan has asked for a trade back to Edmonton for next season. Bob McKenzie doesn’t usually report “rumors”.
Draft day could be a little more interesting.
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tantrum4 Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 1:39 pm
@Sydor25,
That’s crazy. If it’s from McKenzie it’s 100% true. Not sure what the Oilers have that can replace Smyth though. So ulness we need to dump his salary to make room for a superstar, I hope Smyth stays.
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blahblah Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 1:50 pm
@tantrum4,
i like smyth in LA, but now that this has become public, i’m not sure i would feel comfortable having a guy here who doesn’t want to be here. imagine how the rest of the guys in the locker room will feel.
since it gotten this far, if i were DL, i would say “if you dont want to be here, then goodbye.” we can use that 6.25 to get someone with more production anyway.
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tantrum4 Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
@blahblah,
Fair enough, but I really don’t think it’s an “I don’t want to be in LA” situation as it is a “I want to retire an Oiler” situation. I’m sure the Kings players and Lombardi respect Smyth enough to understand where he’s coming from and it’s not like he DEMANDED a trade out of LA, he just said he’s like to go to Edmonton if it’s possible. I think DL will make it work for him out of respect, but hopefully the Kings add a little something extra in the package and we come out of this with Hemsky.
CB14 Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
@tantrum, that’s exactly what I said on the other page, add Martinez and Martin Jones along with Smyth for Hemsky.
blahblah Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:42 pm
@tantrum4,
good point. smyth has been as classy as they get for his entire career. i didn’t mean to sound like i was putting him down or kicking him out. i understand what a nice story it would be for him to go back home and retire there, but the bottom line is, he would rather be there than here. and that just doesnt sit very well.
imagine what happens when the kings play edmonton. everyone is going to think that smyth is thinking “aw man, id rather be in the other dressing room than this one.”
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KC23 Reply:
June 21st, 2011 at 7:59 am
@blahblah, I think most people, including the people in the locker room, will see it as Smyth wanted to be close to his family for his last years in the league … and have zero to do with this locker room or that.
tornado12 Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 1:40 pm
@Sydor25, This is Huge if its for real. Doesnt make any sense to me though, if RS wants a chance at a cup. sure wont be with the Oil…for at LEAST a few more years.
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CB14 Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 1:57 pm
@Sydor25, Ryan Smyth is the anti Chris Pronger.
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hockeysureshot Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
@Sydor25, This is worrysome to me. What does it say about our team if a guy wants to leave and play for the last place Oilers? He can’t think the Kings are that close to winning a cup, I would assume. Very interesting and may be telling us about our organization/ locker room.
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Dave Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:07 pm
@hockeysureshot, it just means Smyth thinks he only has one year left to play and he’d like to finish his career where he started it. and i think Smyth would be great with all the young kids in EDM.
if DL can convince EDM to take him then he has $6.25M to work with in free agency plus the extra $5M in the increase in cap space league-wide. that would make DL the front runner to land Richards if he wants him.
and with the way the cap keeps going up every year and no big names for us to re-sign, why not spend a little more to get Richards? no reason DL couldn’t offer him 7 years @ $50M.
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deadcatbounce Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:08 pm
@Sydor25, Unfortunately, if the Oil wants Smyth they might make us take Sheldon Souray in any deal.
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Dave Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:16 pm
@deadcatbounce, then DL says no thank you and Smyth deals with it. there is absolutely no reason for DL to move Smyth unless the deal improves the team and bringing in Souray would not improve the team.
Smyth is a classy veteran and he won’t pout if he doesn’t get traded to EDM.
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deadcatbounce Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
@Dave,The Oilers aren’t stupid. Assuming they even want him back I’m sure they’[re going to want to unload an unwieldy contract of their own. Think about it and it makes perfect sense as far as they’re concerned. If I’m the Kings I want nopart of Souray, except maybe they could do it and then buy him out andsave a little money that way. It was like when the Kings traded O’Sullivan to Carolina and the Hurricanes make them take Tverdovsky in the deal as well because they wanted to get him off the books.
Dave Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:27 pm
@deadcatbounce – the difference is Smyth is still a productive player and can help the Oilers. he can mentor the younger players, he will help sell tickets and he’ll probably end up staying on with their organization. Souray doesn’t provide the Kings anything.
plus, the Oilers have a ton of cap space ($22M before the cap increase) with no major guys to re-sign. they aren’t going to be making any major UFA moves as they want to play their kids. the can buy out Souray if they want and it won’t hurt them any.
CB14 Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:43 pm
@deadcatbounce, You have your trades with Carolina mixed up. We traded Eric Belanger and Tim Gleason for JJ and Teverdovsky. Then about 2 years later we traded O’Sullivan to Edmonton in a three team deal that sent Erik Cole to Carolina and Justin Williams to LA. Just wanted to clarify things.
Jorgen Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:18 pm
@deadcatbounce, I don’t think you have to worry about that. It’s believed the Oilers will buy him out within a few weeks.
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deadcatbounce Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:23 pm
@Jorgen,But why buy him out in a few weeks if you could get him off the booksbefore the draft?
LB Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:12 pm
@Sydor25,
If they want to take his salary cap hit off the Kings hands – please be our guests. The Kings can get a lot more value out of that kind of cap room than Smyth’s declining contribution.
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Dominick Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:20 pm
@Sydor25,
It means nothing. Smyth had a list with Edmonton, of teams that he would likely give up his NMC to go to (the Kings being one of them), IF the team decided they needed to trade him to improve themselves. I suspect the same thing is happening here. Sure, if the team feels they need to trade him, he won’t fight it, but there are only 1 or 2 teams that he would allow them to send him too (and Edmonton is probably one of them).
The article insinuates that Smyth has initiated the trade demand himself, which I’m not convinced is the case, till I see the proof.
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FKA PakiFro Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:38 pm
@Dominick,
That sounds like the most logical sequence of events.
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McDonalds Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:21 pm
@Sydor25,
This sucks…
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Eric Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
@Sydor25,
I’ll trade Smyth straight up for Ryan Whitney. The Kings could use a quality D-man that can skate, shoot, score, pass, and fight. Smyth is pretty much finished anyways, not to mention the guy never throws a hit for a gritty player.
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CB14 Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
@Eric, The last thing we need is another d-man. We already have 6 quality ones, plus 3 guys in the minors who are really close to being NHL ready, if they aren’t already, and DD2. Although Whitney would be a good trade chip. Didn’t Anaheim get Lubo straight up for him?
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Dave Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:30 pm
@Eric, If EDM takes on Smyth they probably won’t have to give up much more than a 2nd or 3rd round pick, possibly even in 2012. they would be doing the Kings a favor by taking on his contract. they would know that, DL would know that, Smyth would know that.
it would only cost EDM $4M+ in actual money and they have cap space to burn. it’s a good PR move for them, they won’t have to give up anything and he can help their kids. it’s a perfect scenario for everyone if DL can convince Richards to come to LA.
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wes Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 10:34 pm
@Dave, concur. here’s hoping everybody involved ‘knows that’. . .
OFF TOPIC: Further progress in the 3rd jersey “LA” logo becoming our primary logo… our draft hats feature them (versus the crown).
http://shop.nhl.com/product/index.jsp?productId=11682853&cp=3176513&clickid=body_bestsell_txt
Frankly I think it looks pretty good. Very few LA logos can be as iconic as a Dodgers logo (or really any town’s baseball hat, as they are usually nice and simple involving letters), but it’s not bad.
As long as our current home unis become the 3rd jersey (As widely rumored) then i’m happy….who knows, maybe they use those for the playoffs then
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CB14 Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 1:59 pm
@Shakes, Pretty good as a hat. Not my favorite for our jersey.
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McDonalds Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:22 pm
@Shakes,
This also sucks…
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Dominick Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:24 pm
@Shakes,
I wish instead of a baseball diamond, they would change the outline to a shield. I do like the basic black and silver though.
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LAPD line Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 5:04 pm
@Dominick, I like that idea a lot… makes so much more sense than home plate logo.
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KC23 Reply:
June 21st, 2011 at 8:01 am
@Shakes, Never like the home plate logo. Very disappointed they’ve gone to this.
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I just saw the Smyth news on twitter. Makes me wonder what’s going on for him to want to be traded.
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Telos Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
@spidey35, Nothing. He lives and breathes Oilers hockey. It would be like one of us getting drafted by the Kings, later being traded when we never wanted to leave, and then in the twilight of our careers, you have the opportunity to go back to LA. The man wants to retire as an Oiler. It is like Robitaille wanting to retire as a King. He just wants to go out on his own terms.
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KC23 Reply:
June 21st, 2011 at 8:02 am
@spidey35, Smyth is to the Oilers as Luke is to the Kings. They need to be as one during their final years.
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Can we make them take Penner back, too?
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CB14 Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:00 pm
@Mel Powell, LOL! You wish!
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tornado12 Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:03 pm
@Mel Powell, saw that coming from a mile away…LOL
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I do hope that the Kings play in Toronto next season cuz I want to plan my Canada trip (HOF, pond hockey & of course see Kings@Toronto)
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The Smyth story is more about him wanting to retire an Oiler than it is him wanting to leave LA. That being said, it does say a lot about how he feels about this Kings team winning a cup any time soon.
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poe Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:48 pm
@David, Has anybody thought that perhaps he is tired of playing the Murray “no creativity allowed” system and wants to get back to playing hockey b4 he retires?
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David Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 4:46 pm
@poe, members of the Boston Bruins would disagree
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poe Reply:
June 21st, 2011 at 7:49 am
@David, Do you really believe the Bruins play as stultifying a game as Murrays? Every Kings play is absolutely predictable and defensible Is this what you want to see? I prefer a little ingenuity from the players, most of whom have been doing this since they were 3. Murray needs to change and become more creative. I guess you think the PP is good, too. Yuk
I don’t think RS wanting to be traded has anything to do with the Kings or how close we are to winning the cup. He plays a very specific type of game that is very hard on the body. He must recognize that he is close to retiring and wants to go “home”. I have nothing but respect for that…
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tornado12 Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:15 pm
@Sparky, maybe he also realizes that its probably whats best for his current team. If we can get that contract off the books, it pretty much opens the door for signing richards. Its a win/win. Though I hate to see him go, because his character, nose for the net and dirty work and overall work ethic would be sorely missed. i have mixed emotions on this whole thing.
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Scot Reply:
June 20th, 2011 at 2:31 pm
@tornado12,
Also, if the Kings are able to get his contract completely off the books, it opens a door for a leadership need, and maybe Handzus is re-signed in his place. If that’s the case, I’m all for it. If Smyth goes, Zus should stay. I would be willing to give Handzus 3.5 million to stay (500,000 K less than he made last year) if Smyth is off the books.
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KC23 Reply:
June 21st, 2011 at 8:04 am
@Scot, I think most would say Zues is work a lot less than that. Probably in the 2 mil range.
Scot Reply:
June 21st, 2011 at 8:17 am
@KC23,
Agree with that. His production is definitely not worth 3 million, but you also have to pay for leadership, and you have to pay even more for GOOD leadership, which Handzus brings.