Kings tried to persuade Norstrom out of retirement

From Rich Hammond of the L.A. Daily News:

You could probably count this as another "almost'' for the Kings this summer. The Kings recently talked to Mattias Norstrom about ending his newly announced retirement and returning for one year. Norstrom respectfully declined, and the subject of money never even came up.

Read more from Inside the Kings here.

Norstrom would be a good addition to any blue line, especially L.A.'s with all of their young defensemen. Nonetheless, it appears Norstrom is content with his decision to hang up the skates.

Kings ownership could sell off part of team

From Rich Hammond of the L.A. Daily News:

The owners of the Kings have talked with several parties, including the ownership group of the Boston Celtics, about buying a minority share of the hockey franchise, the Daily News has learned.

Sources indicated that no deal is imminent and that in any scenario, Anschutz Entertainment Group will not relinquish operating control of the Kings franchise, which it has owned since October 1995.

Read the entire article here.

Nothing too earth shattering here. Let's just hope there is a good background check done on the newest minority owner.

Cloutier situation likely headed to arbitration

From Rich Hammond of the L.A. Daily News:

The Kings also have significant differences with goaltender Dan Cloutier, who is under contract for one more season. The Kings attempted to buy out Cloutier's contract last month, but the process is currently on hold because of a dispute.

Cloutier missed time over the past two seasons, mostly because of a hip condition, but sources say two doctors examined him and deemed him healthy enough to play, at which point the Kings put him on waivers and then announced a buyout of his contract June 21.

Cloutier sought to have the buyout voided - and receive his full $3.1 million next season - based on the opinion of a third doctor, who said he is not healthy enough to play. The process has been suspended and is likely headed to an arbitrator.

Read more from the Daily News here.

This situation looks like it could get messier before it gets resolved.

Khabibulin to the Kings?

From Rich Hammond of the L.A. Daily News:

There are strong rumblings about the Kings trading for Chicago goalie Nikolai Khabibulin. As of about 15 minutes ago, the Kings weren't confirming anything...

Read Hammond's story here.

Khabibulin only has a year left on his deal and the Kings need a stop-gap until Jonathan Bernier is ready to take over in between the pipes. The fact that Khabby's salary is $6.75 million is not that terrible because the Kings need to get to the salary floor.

Lombardi's take on the Visnovsky trade

From Rich Hammond of the L.A. Daily News:

"It's never easy to give up a player of (Visnovsky's) caliber, but for the direction of this franchise, this exchange allows us to add two players who fit the long-term vision for this team," Kings president and general manager Dean Lombardi said in a statement.

Read the entire article here.

The Kings are clearly purging some salary that was going to their veteran players, and re-allocating that money to their youthful core.

Visnovsky traded to Oilers

From Lowetide:

The Edmonton Oilers have acquired defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for C Jarret Stoll and D Matt Greene.

A hat tip to Bob Stauffer from Team 1260 for getting to this before everyone else.

The trade just happened so I think it's important to take a look at it one item at a time.

Visnovsky: His contract is 7M, 7M, 6M, 5M, 3M and isn't complete until the summer of 2013. The annual cap hit is $5.6M, effectively making him the highest paid player on the roster.

Read more on the trade here.

Not very surprising that the Oilers dealt Stoll and Greene, however, it is quite surprising that they traded for a big-time offensive defenseman. Speculation had the Oilers looking for a steady veteran defenseman, and an offensive scoring winger. While Visnovsky is a good puck-mover and power play quarterback, he is quite expensive. Unless there is something we don't know about Sheldon Souray, then I don't really understand this deal. It seems like Lowe has a bigger plan in action here, but we will have to wait and see if that is truly the case.

Lombardi made the right decision firing Crawford

From Helene Elliot of the L.A. Times:

Lombardi made the right move to fire him. He probably should never have hired Crawford, who had unlimited skill at his disposal in Colorado with Joe Sakic, Peter Forsberg and Co. and couldn't get some solid Vancouver Canucks teams past the second round of the playoffs.

The Kings had more hope than skill and Crawford couldn't function under those circumstances, couldn't be patient with kids who were learning and making mistakes and needed a teacher more than they needed a screamer who demanded more than they were capable of delivering.

Read the entire article here.

Cannot say I disagree with the firing either. The Kings need to hire a coach who is able to work with and develop young players. If they hire the right coach, the talent on the team will be evident to the rest of the NHL, and the Kings won't be outside of the playoffs for very long.

Marc Crawford fired

From Rich Hammond of the L.A. Daily News:

"We appreciate Marc's commitment the two seasons he has been here," said Lombardi. "However, we believe that in evaluating where we are at and, more importantly, where we are going as an organization, we feel this coaching change was the right decision to make. We wish Marc the best in his future endeavors."

See Hammond's entry here.

This move came out of nowhere; seeing as most teams relieve their coaches of their duties immediately after the regular season has ended. That being said, the move is not that much of a surprise. Even though the Kings of 2008 were young, they had a lot more talent than their record indicated. Fair or not, that is generally a reflection of the coach.

With Crawford gone, this job should be coveted by a lot of coaches around hockey. The team has loads of young talent, the #2 overall pick in this month's entry draft and is looking to make a move up the standings. Not to mention the chance to revitalize hockey in California.