The Kings have addressed perhaps their most glaring weaknesses via trade and free agency this off season, and while they’re considered favorites in the Pacific Division and among the favorites in the Western Conference, there are still questions to be answered.

Last season’s marquee trade deadline acquisition, Dustin Penner, was, to put it mildly a bit of a disappointment. GM Dean Lombardi criticized Penner’s conditioning and work ethic – even going so far as to say it was up to Penner to decide if he wanted to play in the NHL or for a beer league softball team (I’m paraphrasing the quote he gave to Rich Hammond). Kings’ fans got to see first hand why Penner’s relationship with the fans in Edmonton was one of love/hate proportions. No doubt the man has skill, but at times his effort seems to be lacking.

The buzz out of El Segundo this week from names well known among Kings’ fans on twitter – Mayor’s Manor, Frozen Royalty and Dennis Bernstein of The 4th Period – was that Penner has been training hard in Los Angeles and has slimmed down by at least ten pounds. The Mayor tweeted earlier today that Penner says he wasn’t offended by Lombardi’s softball comments and instead used it as kindling for his fire. It’s encouraging news to be sure, and the hope is that it translates to big on-ice results for him. A productive Penner alongside Anze Kopitar makes the Kings’ top line as dangerous as any in the West, especially when you factor in how good the second line will be with Gagne, Richards and likely Dustin Brown.

Speaking of Kopitar, Mayor’s Manor also stated via twitter today that Anze Kopitar has been cleared medically and will begin skating before the end of July.

Now, to contracts for a moment. The good news – Kings have agreed to terms on a two-year contract extension with forward brad Richardson. Richie has been a key role player on the Kings’ roster the past two seasons, and the Kings avoid arbitration by locking him up now.

The bad news – although it’s safe to say not disconcerting at this point, is that Drew Doughty and the Kings have yet to agree to terms. Dean Lombardi told Rich Hammond today that both sides are still discussing money as well as contract length. I agree with what Bobby at Surly & Scribe has to say about it – Dean Lombardi will get it done. Drew Doughty is the cornerstone of the Kings’ franchise right now, and figures to be in any conversation about the James Norris Memorial Trophy for the next decade. Doughty wants to be an LA King, and he will be. Contract negotiations are a smorgasbord of speculation for media, both mainstream and bloggers alike. I’ve already seen Dean Lombardi called “stingy”, Drew and his agents called “greedy”, and seen speculation in the mainstream media that Doughty wants to be the highest paid King – all without any citation or shred of evidence. Articles get more reads and websites get more clicks based on speculation and fabricated drama, the “OH NOEZ WE CAN’T SIGN DREW NOW!” makes for more readers than it does to simply acknowledge the fact that there’s no pressure to get a deal done yesterday, as much as we fans would love it, and that negotiations will continue until the two sides reach an agreement.

Rest assured, Drew Doughty will be a Los Angeles King when camp opens in September, and for many more after that. He’s a key piece of the puzzle that Kings’ fans, coaches, players and management alike hope will get LA hockey’s ultimate prize – the Stanley Cup

It has been many moons since I’ve posted a new blog entry here. Hard to believe my last post was in November of 2010. How time flies when you’re busy I suppose. It’s good to be back in the saddle here, and I hope to be able to post more frequently leading up to and during the 2011-2012 season.

When the 2010-2011 season ended, the Kings found themselves on the short end of a 6 game series with San Jose. Kings were minus their best player, and it still took the Sharks 3 overtime victories to vanquish a resilient Kings’ squad. I’ll not discuss this much, as I’m still bitter we lost to the most overrated NHL franchise of the last decade, and every time I see anything teal I want to kick babies. OK, maybe not babies. Anyway…

The loss of one player made a significant dent in the Kings, particularly defensively. The Kings were thin up the middle without Kopitar, and it cost them. Fortunately. Dean Lombardi took notice of this and made it his priority to shore up center ice for the Kings. Just before the 2001 NHL Draft, Lombardi was able to engineer a deal with Philadelphia to acquire Flyers’ captain Mike Richards. The Kings had to part with fan favorite Wayne Simmonds, top prospect Brayden Schenn and a second round pick in 2012; but for a guy with Richards’ credentials, that’s more than a fair price to pay. The emergence of Kyle Clifford made Simmonds expendable, and Schenn is still probably a season away from full time NHL duty. In acquiring Richards, the Kings now have a 1-2 punch at center that matches up with any team in the West.

Winger Ryan Smyth in the meantime, requested that Lombardi send him home to Alberta if a trade could be worked out. The event created a bit of a shitstorm in the local hockey media, with Smyth denying his trade request initially. After what ended up being days worth of drama, Smyth was sent to Edmonton for Colin Fraser and a pick. Fraser was found to be injured, and Lombardi neglected to reverse the deal. The Oilers owe the Kings additional compensation over the mishap but don’t expect that to be much. Smyth will be missed, but the Kings do gain a TON of cap space from the deal and Fraser, if healthy, can be a serviceable bottom 6 player who has a Cup ring from his time in Chicago two seasons ago.

Smyth’s departure left a gaping hole in the Kings top 6 heading into the start of free agency on July 1st. Lombardi and company- an entourage including the Kings’ coaching staff and AEG CEO Tim Lieweke – made a hard pitch for Brad Richards that included testimony from Wayne Gretzky and Kobe Bryant about the joys of playing in LA on Friday. Richards chose the Rangers and former head coach John Tortorella on Saturday, and the Kings immediately took to plan 1A and signed LW Simon Gagne, the longtime Philadelphia Flyer most recently a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning, to a two year deal. Gagne has scored 20 or more goals 7 times in his career, 30 or more goals 4 times, and 40+ goals twice. He comes with some risk as he’s had some unfortunate injuries later in his career, but Gagne is a gifted scorer who has spent several productive seasons alongside new Kings #2 Center Mike Richards in Philly. Provided Gagne can stay healthy, he can score 30 + on Richards’ flank, and he makes the Kings a much better team. Unlike last summer, when the Kings had no plan beyond their pursuit of Ilya Kovalchuk, Lombardi and co went out and got the necessary pieces to make the Kings a contender right now, without giving up their entire farm system to do so.

So, as of July 3rd, the Kings’ top 6 looks like Penner-Kopitar-Williams and Gagne-Richards-Brown. The best and most balanced top 6 the Kings have had in a decade or more. I expect the Kings to add perhaps another serviceable bottom 6 guy before camp, but that’s perhaps not even necessary as the Kings have Bud Holloway, Tyler Toffoli and Brandon Kozun on the cusp of cracking the lineup. We’ll see how it plays out, but Lombardi has options.

One interesting thing for those in the twitterverse: Dennis Bernstein of The Fouth Period has hinted over the past couple of days that he thinks the Kings have one more big move coming before camp, and has indicated it involves a forward. I’ll not speculate much here now, but one has to wonder if it doesn’t have something to do with Zack Parise – who’s arbitration award may be more than the Devils can swallow. NJ needs an heir for Martin Brodeur, which leads me to believe hypothetically at least that Bernier would be part of any such deal. Again, pure speculation on my part as Bernstein hasn’t divulged any info on the Kings’ possible dance partner, and for all we know it could be something off the board. It all remains to be seen.

The sum of all the moves that have been made up to now, and the potential of another big move on the horizon is this: The Kings are contenders, right now. Dean Lombardi has responded to critics who’ve hung the “Can’t make the big move” tag on him with two dynamite additions to the roster. Lomardi knows these Kings are ready to make a run at the Cup this season. It would be fair, and by all means accurate, to call them frontrunners for the Pacific Division title in 2011-12, and one of the teams to beat in the West. I’ll withhold my in depth analysis of that as there’s a lot of time between now and the opening of camp in September.

Needless to say, if you’re a Kings’ fan like I am, there hasn’t been this much excitement surrounding our team in a long time. I know it’s got me waking up daily asking “Is it October yet?”.

GO KINGS!

-JS