The Kings made a move to get back into the third round and, with the No. 82 overall pick, selected center Nick Shore out of the University of Denver. Shore was ranked as the No. 56 North American skater by Central Scouting, and had 18 points in 28 games as a freshman for the Pioneers [...]

With their third-round pick (No. 80 overall), the Kings selected center Andy Andreoff from Oshawa of the Ontario Hockey League. Anreoff, 20, is listed at 6-foot-1 and 198 pounds, and had 33 goals and 42 assists in 66 games for the Generals last season. Andreoff recently completed his fourth season of junior hockey. He made [...]

For a little more info on goalie Chris Gibson, the Kings’ second-round pick, here’s a couple stories from the past year, plus the official prospect video on Gibson. As noted in the earlier post, Gibson has an interesting backstory… Move to Canada worked well for Chicoutimi’s Gibson Gibson’s Love For Hockey and Ruisleipä

With their second-round pick (No. 49 overall), the Kings selected goalie Christopher Gibson from Chicoutimi of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Gibson had a 2.42 goals-against average and a .920 save percentage in the Quebec league last season. Gibson is 18 years old and is listed at 6-foot, 193 pounds. He’s a native of [...]

The second day of the NHL Draft will get underway at 8 a.m. Pacific time, and the Kings enter the day holding one pick in each of the rounds: second (49th overall), third (80th), fourth (110th), fifth (140th), sixth (170th) and seventh (200th). Of course, that could change depending on this status of this Ryan [...]

Ryan Smyth is headed back to Edmonton, in exchange for winger Gilbert Brule and a fourth-round draft pick. Interestingly enough, when news of a potential trade broke, on Monday, I talked to a member of the Oilers’ broadcast team, who suggested this as a possibility. I don’t know if he wants his name publicly mentioned, [...]

Well, here’s a bit of news from the draft, albeit not what you might expect. The Kings sent out, on Twitter, a picture of their “runner” — the kids who get the task of delivering communication back and forth between the main draft table and the team tables — who just happens to be wearing [...]

It’s a bit of an odd day. The first round of the NHL Draft is today (4 p.m. Pacific time on Versus) but the Kings don’t have a pick until tomorrow, and the biggest topic remains the aftermath of the Mike Richards trade (the Kings announced today that they have sold 154 season seats since [...]

Now that the dust has settled a bit from yesterday’s big trade, let’s shuffle the deck for a moment and see what comes up. At this point, what might the Kings’ lineup realistically look like in 2011-12? Here’s one guess, which is no better or worse than any at this point… Penner-Kopitar-Williams Parse-Richards-Brown Clifford-Stoll-Richardson Lewis-Loktionov-Westgarth [...]

First, a hello and thanks to those Philadelphia Flyers fans who came on board yesterday to share their thoughts about the Mike Richards trade. Very insightful and helpful, and you’re always welcome here! How did the Richards trade get covered in the Philadelphia media? Here’s a sampling of stories, the last of which is a [...]

To read my LAKings.com recap of the Mike Richards trade, please click here. Of course, Dean Lombardi and much of the Kings’ front office is in St. Paul for the start of the NHL Draft today. At the moment, the Kings don’t have a first-round pick, but we’ll get into talking about the draft a [...]

Here are the highlights of Dean Lombardi’s conference-call session. Most revealing? Lombardi’s comments about Ryan Smyth, in which he reveals — something Smyth himself declined to reveal — that Smyth had asked for a move closer to home, and that the Kings are close to accommodating him. Most surprising? No references to the Yankees, and [...]

Here are the highlights of the Mike Richards portion of the conference call… Question: Just curious as to your general reaction. Some of the folks in Philly were writing that you were very surprised by this… RICHARDS: “Yeah, I was very shocked when I got a call in the early afternoon from my agent. He [...]

Just got off the conference call with Mike Richards and Dean Lombardi. Richards expressed a lot of the emotions typically expressed by players who have just been traded: optimism mixed with a bit of shackle, but reiterated frequently that he was pleased to be coming to Los Angeles. As for Lombardi, he said Richards was [...]

Terry Murray was gracious enough to take a few minutes, from his (sometimes) offseason home in Maine, to chat about the Kings’ acquisition of Mike Richards. Murray was an assistant coach in Philadelphia when Richards broke into the NHL, and the player and coach spent three seasons together. Murray said that he had spoken to [...]

As if the day couldn’t get any stranger… Officially, the Kings have traded Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds and a 2012 second-round draft pick to Philadelphia for Mike Richards and a young forward named Rob Bordson. Here’s the rub. According to a source, the Flyers included Bordson in the trade because they already had the maximum [...]

You had to know a poll would be coming soon, right? Mike Richards for Brayden Schenn, Wayne Simmonds and a second-round pick…your thoughts? Do you like the trade?Market Research

This is certainly one of the more fascinating deals done by the Kings in years. In comes Mike Richards, a 26-year-old center who has already reached the 30-goal mark twice in six NHL seasons. Out goes Brayden Schenn, arguably the Kings’ top prospect and the player the Kings had resisted trading despite countless offers that [...]

TSN’s Gord Miller is reporting, as a “done deal,” that the Kings have acquired center Mike Richards from Philadelphia in exchange for Brayden Schenn and Wayne Simmonds. I’ve been able to confirm that those talks between the teams were in serious stages, but still waiting for confirmation on completion of a deal. Stay tuned. [UPDATE: [...]

Going a little deeper into the Kings’ 2011-12 schedule, which can be found by clicking here. The first item of note, as season-ticket holders probably discovered a while ago, is that there will only be 39 regular-season games at Staples Center, as the Kings are the designated “home” team for both games in Europe. Why? [...]