Waiting games for RFA’s
September 2nd, 2008 by puremetal33One thing most certainly on the minds of many King fans is the status of unsigned RFA’s Patrick O’Sullivan and Jaret Stoll. The long wait with little word has made a few people nervous, especially with the KHL lingering on the horizon in Russia and a lot of trade rumors, albeit unsubstantiated swirling around.
O’Sullivan, who scored 22 goals and had 31 assists in 82 games in 2007-08, is considered a part of the teams young core and at 23 is thought to have considerable upside and potential. He was acquired from Minnesota in the trade that sent Pavol Demitra to the Wild. It’s safe to assume that O’Sullivan’s agent is looking for a big payday for his client. It’s also safe to assume that the Kings are trying to avoid having to overpay for his services. As training camp nears it’ll be interesting to see what transpires.
Stoll, acquired this offseason along with defenseman Matt Greene in the Lubomir Visnovsky trade, had 14 goals and 22 assists in 81 games for Edmonton last season. He is expected to fill the second line center role that Michal Handzus failed to seize last season. Stoll plays a good two way game and is excellent on face offs. He’s already a Los Angeles resident and recently married model/actress Rachel Hunter.
I had a bit of an expectation that the Kings would be announcing the signings of these two players today after the Labor Day holiday in the States, but another day passed without comment on any negotiations with these players.
Should we worry? Most likely not. While missing out on UFA’s like Brad Stuart, Rob Blake (both retreads anyway) and Brooks Orpik; and the excruciating wait for O’Sullivan and Stoll to sign new contracts has prompted some fans and members of the press to claim that the sky is falling, I don’t believe it to be the case. Kings management knows the value of both of these players. GM Dean Lombardi gave up assets for both of them. Neither will leave LA unless there’s something of at least equal value coming back.
Expect to see both men signed and at training camp when the veterans arrive in El Segundo on the 22nd of this month, just less than three weeks away.
The only real news to report for today is the invitation of 20 year old Calgary Hitmen (WHL) goalie Marty Jones. This was reported both by the Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun today.
Rich Hammond also reported in his Inside The Kings blog that former Kings associate coach Mike Johnston, who was considered a prime candidate for the Kings head coach job now occupied by Terry Murray, is about to be named the head coach and general manager of the WHL’s Portland Winter Hawks.
-JS
Posted in Kings
2 Responses to “Waiting games for RFA’s”
By Marc on Sep 3, 2008
The Kings have a long long way to go to get to the cap floor, they’re going to have to do something big.
By SoCalSharksGirl on Sep 3, 2008
They have at least 4 players within the team that still need to be signed, and there’s the rumor that they are possibly going after Schneider, or even better, Beauchemin. They still need to find a D-man with some playoff experience to help prepare the young guys for when that day comes.