2007-2008 Season Preview - Los Angeles Kings
Los Angeles
Notable moves and changes: Signed F Kyle Calder (was with Philly and Detroit last season), C Michal Handzus (was with Chicago), F Ladislav Nagy (was with Phoenix), and D Tom Preissing (was with Ottawa). Signed D Brad Stuart (was with Calgary). Signed D Jon Klemm (was with Dallas).
Starting goalie: Dan Cloutier
Summary of last year: Quick, name 3 LA King players from the 2006-2007 season without including Rob Blake, Michael Cammalleri or Alexander Frolov. Some of the more astute might remember a young rookie named Ante Kopitar who had an impressive season. Some might even remember Mathieu Garon, or Sean Avery, but there’s truly not much else to mark the Kings’ 4th straight year without making the post-season dance.
Prediction for this year: The Kings are lucky to have Phoenix in their division — it’ll at least keep them out of the basement. The Kings are consistent in that they always seem to have decent (if not spectacular) teams on paper, then quietly finish in the bottom third of the conference. In the off-season the Kings have nicely upgraded their blueline, brought in some steady forwards (Nagy is a huge question mark) and hung onto the key players of their team (Cammalleri’s signing came down to arbitration) (though some would argue the departed Sean Avery was key). If Cloutier can hold them in, the Kings could make a strong case this year, but they’ve been deceptive before….
Los Angeles, Kyle Calder, Philly, Detroit, Michal Handzus, Ladislav Nagy, Tom Preissing, Brad Stuart, Jon Klemm, Dan Cloutier, LA King, Rob Blake, Michael Cammalleri, Alexander Frolov, Ante Kopitar, Mathieu Garon, Sean Avery
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