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Kings Have Youth On Their Side
by Paul on 07/29/08 at 02:34 PM ET
Comments (6)
from Sam McCaig of the Hockey News,
... In other words, the Kings aren’t exactly headed in the right direction.
Or are they?
Take a close look at L.A.’s roster and there’s hope on the horizon.
The Kings already boast a handful of burgeoning stars up front in forwards Anze Kopitar (20 years and 11 months), Patrick O’Sullivan (23), Dustin Brown (23) and Alexander Frolov (26).
Filed in: NHL Teams, Los Angeles Kings | KK Hockey | Permalink
Comments
Between the RFA’s that haven’t been signed yet and bonuses due to rookies, the Kings will just barely make the cap floor. No one in the organization is really worrying about it.
Posted by thelossadjuster from Bakersfield, CA on 07/29/08 at 04:08 PM ET
Here is the lineup as it stands right now, based on contracts, assumptions, and comments from Dean Lombardi (numbers from http://www.hockeybuzz.com/cap-central/team.php?team=LA):
Forwards:
Michal Handzus: 4.000
Dustin Brown: 3.175
Alexander Frolov: 2.900
Kyle Calder: 2.700
Derek Armstrong: 1.500
Ted Purcell: 1.350
Anze Kopitar: .955
Brian Boyle: .835
Raitis Ivanans: .600
John Zeiler: .543
Matt Moulson: .522
Matt Ellis: .475
Total: 19.555
Defense:
Tom Preissing: 2.750
Jack Johnson: 2.150
Denis Gauthier: 2.100
Matt Greene: 1.150
Peter Harrold: .550
Total: 8.700
Goalies:
Jason LaBarbera: .825
Erik Ersberg: .700
Total: 1.525
That gives us a total of 29.78 million. Jarret Stoll, Brad Richardson, and Patrick O’Sullivan are the forwards left unsigned. Assuming Stoll gets around 2, Richardson around 1, and O’Sullivan around 3, you’re only approximately 4-5 million away from the cap floor, with two defensemen left to account for. Assuming Drew Doughty makes the team, his contractual cap hit will be 1 to 2 million. The last defenseman will be the clincher. If it’s another rookie or cheap veteran, the Kings will be a few million under the floor. The Kings really will have to sign someone or trade for a player to make up the difference.
But the amount that the team is under the floor isn’t as scary as 13 million.
Posted by theartfullodger on 07/29/08 at 04:36 PM ET
And, of course, it goes without saying, anything can happen in training camp… from Bernier making the team to a trade to other rookies taking some of those forward spots (Oscar Moller, anyone?)
Posted by theartfullodger on 07/29/08 at 04:39 PM ET
According to this, the Kings are currently at $27.756m. The cap floor is $40.7m, as we all know. So you’re right, they’re not $13m under the floor. It’s more like $12.944m under the floor.
Sorry about that.
Having said that, I’m sure all teams will make the floor this year. I’m only saying that you all should probably sign your players before talking about the direction of the team.
Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 07/29/08 at 05:04 PM ET
Alert the media! We need Alan’s permission to speculate about the direction of teams in the NHL!
Posted by theartfullodger on 07/29/08 at 06:50 PM ET
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They might have youth on their side, but they’re about $13m below the salary cap floor. Get above the floor first, then we’ll talk about whether they’re moving in the right direction.
Posted by Alan from Atlanta on 07/29/08 at 03:29 PM ET