Even if you’re not a Led Zeppelin fan (shame on you!), that song title is an appropriate descriptor for the Kings 2010 offseason. I’m approaching the analogy in reverse as it better reflects the chronological order of events here. Sit back, relax, pour your favorite beverage and enjoy.

What Should Never Be

Kings’ fans the world over are likely ill by now from all the drama involving Ilya Kovalchuk. What it boils down to is simply this: Dean Lombardi made his best offer to kovalchuk and agent Jay Grossman – reported to be 13 years, 84.5 million dollars, and they instead chose to pursue the path of riches by signing with New Jersey for a record 17 years, $102 million. Of course, as we all know, that deal was rejected by the NHL for circumvention of the CBA, a decision upheld by arbitrator Richard Bloch. After weeks of civil unrest, the NHL and NHLPA finally reached agreement in the wee hours of the morning Saturday on an Amendment to the CBA re: long term contracts and along with it, approved a second Kovalchuk contract – this one for 15 years, $100 million. Make no mistake about it, the NHL made concessions in approving that deal. Since this is a Kings’ blog, I’m not going to write an infinite number of paragraphs explaining my point, since at this point we’re talking water under the bridge. All I will say is that the second contract, which the league APPROVED, is in many ways worse than the first. Again, water under the bridge, but I’ll admit that there was a part of me hoping to see Kovalchuk bolt for Russia – which would prove once and for all that he is in it solely for financial gain. But, we already knew that, right?

Now, onto the pertinent part – how this effects the Kings. Let’s be honest here. We can all scream about how Kovalchuk has never been a team player, doesn’t come through under pressure, et cetera. The truth of the matter is, if he’d been willing to play for a reasonable contract, he’d have been a nice addition to the team. Since he wasn’t, he’s not – and New Jersey just went through a whole lot of trouble to re-sign a player who didn’t get them out of the first round last season.

Dean Lombardi isn’t dumb. He knows he has a current Norris Trophy nominee and future Norris winner, likely multiple times, to get signed to an extension. He’s got another young defenseman who seems to finally be living up to a bit of his potential (let’s see if he can finish with a + rating this season) to extend, as well as one of his young promising Wingers who has split time on the team’s top line and the team’s shutdown line with substantial results. Yes, Drew Doughty is more important to the Kings, now and tomorrow, than Ilya Kovalchuk ever would have been. Jack Johnson has made great strides since the Olympics, and while there are rumblings (mostly unsubstantiated) that he doesn’t want to stay in LA long term, he is not sue to be a UFA for some time yet. If Lombardi is unable to get Johnson signed to a multi year extension, he is at the very least a tradable asset with a lot of value. Wayne Simmonds will look to crack the 20 goal mark in his third full season in the NHL, and is one of the team’s best rounded forwards, as well as a fan favorite.

In order to sign Kovalchuk (and there are those who believe his visit to LA was all song and dance to get New Jersey to increase their offer) the Kings would certainly have had to part with one or more of the aforementioned three players. Lombardi made the biggest offer possible in order to retain his core players. In the end it didn’t happen. Some are still disappointed.

I’ll maintain my opinion that it’d have been nice to have him, but not at the risk of blowing up an already pretty good roster. I’ll be reminding people of that after New Jersey suffers another first round collapse in 2001 as well, particularly East Coast based bloggers who have used the whole Koval-Gate situation as an excuse to slag the people of Southern California and the LA Kings organization.

What Is

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the good stuff. Let’s be realistic for a second – the Kings didn’t need Kovalchuk to begin with. We’re talking about a team that scored the fifth most goals in the NHL in 2009-10. While the even strength scoring could use some improvement, the players already here are capable of that progression. If Anze Kopitar shows up to camp in even better shape than last season, there’s no reason to believe that he can’t exceed last season’s goal and point totals. Remember, Kopitar might’ve been the most dominant player in the entire NHL for the first third of 2009-10. What kept him from keeping up that level of performance? Some may point to Ryan Smyth’s injury, which was no doubt a factor. General consensus however seems to be that Kopitar’s conditioning, although improved, was not at it’s peak. I still believe that a well conditioned Kopitar with reliable linemates is potentially a 100 point player in this league.

Speaking about the forwards, the Kings lost Alexander Frolov as a free-agent to the Rangers, and opted not to re-sign Fredrik Modin or Jeff Halpern. Coming to the team this season is former Maple Leaf and Penguin Alexei Ponikarovsky. Poni may not have the offensive upside Frolov had, but he is a similar type player – a consistent 20 goal scorer who is by all accounts better defensively than Frolov and will be a PERFECT fit alongside Michal Handzus and Wayne Simmonds on the third, “checking” line.

Defensively, the Kings bid adieu to Sean O’Donnell and Randy Jones. OD is a great guy, and it would’ve been nice to see him finish his career where it started, but his game had obviously lost a step, and he heads off to Philadelphia for a season that is likely to be his last. Jones, who nobody in the stands at Staples is likely to miss, heads off to Tampa. For all the talk about Steve Yzerman being a genius GM, the Jones signing is enough to make everyone scratch their heads a bit. Incoming is veteran Willie Mitchell, a solid shutdown guy who will be a great addition to the Kings top 4. The season will start with 2 defensive rookies likely in the lineup while Matt Greene recovers from shoulder surgery.

While the additions of Ponikarovsky and Mitchell are solid ones, I don’t think Lombardi is done looking for a top 6 forward. If a deal can be made to benefit the Kings, Dean will make it. The name I’ve heard thrown about most is Tampa’s Ryan Malone – who I believe would be an absolute PERFECT fit with this team. Malone does have a no-trade clause however, so who knows if discussions will or have been taking place.

So now, the question I pose to you, the readers. Who is a realistic addition to the Kings’ roster, via trade, that you feel would help the Kings reach the next level?

Next up, I’ll talk about rookies hoping to make an impact during the 2010-2011 season.

Go Kings!

JS