Trade talk

The NHL’s trade deadline is Wednesday at noon Pacific time, but it’s likely that the big moves — Kovalchuk, Phaneuf, Giguere — have already been made. The Toronto Globe and Mail took a nice look at the trade market, and while their estimate of the Kings (in the market for a scoring winger) is certainly accurate, their list of “available” players doesn’t include many potential fits for the Kings. Ray Whitney is still a possibility, but as of a couple days ago, he apparantly had not moved from his request for a multi-year contract extension.

Beyond that, it could be a pretty quiet deadline day. That, it seems, would be just fine with Terry Murray, who, every time he is asked the question, expresses his satisfaction with the way the Kings’ roster is presently constructed. Here’s what Murray said about the approaching deadline…

MURRAY: “If something gets close, Dean will bring me into it and talk about it and ask my opinion. That has not happened. I love our team right now. I love our chemistry, and that is so important in this game today. The locker room is very tight and cohesive. They play hard for each other. We’ve gotten to a point right now in our season, and it has come through team play. If we stay the same, that’s fine with me. I’ll coach the players that we have, and if management feels something needs to be added to it, then that’s their decision, but I love this group right now.”

So, Murray was asked — half-jokingly — he doesn’t have a wish list for the trade deadline?

MURRAY: “No, I don’t have any wish list. Everybody came back from the Olympics healthy, and it was a great experience. Before the break, that was certainly the wish that I would have had, so we’re ready to get going here.”