Development-camp bonding experiences aren’t only for the players. On Monday, after the work was done at the practice facility, Kings management members, coaches, scouts and staffers split into two groups — golf and fishing — and went on their respective excursions. There was no reliable report from the golf course, but there were plenty of [...]

The development camp had to be a bit frustrating for one prospect, goalie Jean-Francois Berube, who had to stand and watch after undergoing hip surgery last month. Berube, who turns 20 tomorrow, is coming off a solid junior season, one in which he had a 2.60 goals-against average, a .902 save and a 32-7-8 record [...]

Along with management, coaches, scouts and staffers, a guest watched part of the Kings’ development camp today, clad in a workout shirt and shorts and with a towel around his neck. Dustin Penner, at 6-foot-4, still towers over everyone, but he appears rather slimmer than when last publicly seen. Penner has been back in Southern [...]

Another of the Kings’ restricted free agents rejoined the fold today, as Brad Richardson signed a two-year contract for a total of $2.35 million. Richardson gets a salary bump from his $900,000 last season. His new salary-cap hit is $1,175,000, and in terms of cash, Richardson will make $1 million in 2011-12 and $1.35 million [...]

Dean Lombardi talked today about two of the Kings’ most-relevant summer subplots, the Drew Doughty contract talks and the disputed Ryan Smyth-Colin Fraser trade with Edmonton. The first one is simpler. Lombardi said his contract guru Jeff Solomon, the Kings’ vice president of hockey operations and legal affairs, has been in contact with Doughty’s representatives. [...]

The development camp is done for the day — they literally turned out the lights — after two practice sessions and one scrimmage. Recent draft pick Nick Shore scored the only goal in the 40-minute scrimmage and Chris Gibson made a handful of nice stops. Dean Lombardi also chatted about a handful of topics. Discussions [...]

For some of the Kings’ prospects, development camp is old hat. Some of them have already attended the camp once or twice, so they’re somewhat familiar with the area, the rink, the coaches and the other prospects. For others, this is all new. That includes the six players who were drafted into the Kings organization [...]

The second-day scrimmage will be underway at development camp fairly shortly. For now, here’s a nice series of video interviews done yesterday with some of the prospects. If you like seeing them, and not just reading their interviews, here’s a good chance for some get-to-know you time… Tyler Toffoli interview Brandon Kozun interview Jordan Weal [...]

There will be more from development camp tomorrow, including a check-in with Kings prospect and budding social-media star Ray Kaunisto. For now, if you need to catch up on today’s camp news and notes, you can check out my LAKings.com notebook by clicking here. For those who want to watch the action live tomorrow, the [...]

Ever since the day the Kings drafted him in the sixth round in 2009, Brandon Kozun has been an intriguing prospect, a small, tenacious winger who has drawn comparisons to…well, pretty much every small, tenacious winger who has thrived in the NHL. Can Kozun reach that level? After consecutive 100-point seasons in the WHL, Kozun [...]

At the same time Tyler Toffoli was potting goals by the dozens in the Ontario Hockey League, fellow Kings prospect Linden Vey was leading the way in the Western Hockey League. Vey, a fourth-round draft pick of the Kings in 2009, led the WHL with 116 points last season as he totaled 46 goals and [...]

This is the end of a big 12-plus-month period for Tyler Toffoli. Last June, he was drafted in the second round by the Kings. Then, upon his return to junior hockey, with the OHL’s Ottawa 67s, Toffoli totaled 57 goals (most in the league) and 108 points (tied for most in the league), an improvement [...]

A couple interesting things from camp, before we get to the actual interviews and such… On the injury front, Derek Forbort was able to participate in all the sessions. He has been considered questionable because of back pain. The only prospect not to participate today was goalie J.F. Berube, who had an undisclosed injury. Off [...]

The on-ice sessions for development camp are over for the day. The highlight was the 40-minute scrimmage, which ended in a 3-3 tie. Kings prospects Tyler Toffoli and Nick Shore got goals, as did a few non-rostr invited players, and goalies Martin Jones and Chris Gibson were sharp. I’ll have some further thoughts on players [...]

A reminder for those who might have the morning free, or who might have come down with a mysterious case of the sniffles. The Kings’ development-camp prospects will be on the ice shortly at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo, most notably for a scrimmage from 9:30-10:30 a.m. Also, one “team” of prospects will [...]

A few things… The Kings only have five defensive prospects at their summer development camp, and now they might be down one. Derek Forbort showed up with a bad back, and his status for the public camp sessions on Monday and Tuesday are not yet known. Forbort also had a bout with mononucleosis last year, [...]

Well, scratch July 27 off the arbitration list. Alec Martinez has agreed to a two-year contract with the Kings. Martinez’s contract is worth $737,500 per season. The salary-cap hit for Martinez’s entry-level contract was $875,000, but that also included more than $300,000 in performance- and signing-bonus money. Martinez became a lineup regular last November, after [...]

The NHL Players’ Association has announced the dates for this summer’s arbitration hearings in Toronto — get your tickets now! — including those involving the Kings’ Alec Martinez and Brad Richardson. Richardson’s hearing will be July 21 while Martinez’s hearing will be July 27. As noted earlier, both players can continue to negotiate contracts, and [...]

Over the past few days, we’ve been to the lab and drawn up the Kings’ potential lineup for 2011-12. Now, how much will it cost? To determine that, we have to make a few assumptions. First, let’s assume that Kevin Westgarth is also on the roster (given Terry Murray’s preference for a “heavyweight,” that’s not [...]

The line-combination polls have been very interesting. So far, you, the voting public, have picked the Kings’ line combinations exactly the way I did after the Gagne signings. That means we’re all brilliant or we’re all crazy, but at least we’re in it together! So far, it’s… Penner-Kopitar-Williams Gagne-Richards-Brown Clifford-Stoll-Richardson Now comes the fourth line. [...]