Los Angeles Kings Don't Want to Be Left Out of the Mix

The Los Angeles kings are among the NHL's youngest teams. Young talent is a great thing to have for building into the future, but LA wants to start winning now. They proved this by going out and signing a bunch of free agents as soon as free agency started. Among the most talented gained from free agency is Dallas Stars forward Ladislav Nagy. Although Nagy has been unable to produce the numbers he did in 2002-2003, his 41 points with Phoenix and 14 points with Dallas last season are quite good. The Phoenix Coyotes traded Nagy to Dallas at the trade deadline in order to get something for Nagy, otherwise they would have lost him to free agency for nothing later in the season. Nagy is one of the top forwards to be available for free agency and Los Angeles should be very happy with getting such a player. Nagy will meet up with familiar face Michael Handzus in LA as they signed the 6-foot-5 centerman also. Handzus is coming off of a poor season with the Chicago Blackhawks last season in which he was injured for the majority of the season with a torn ACL. The Kings hope that Handzus can return to his glories days as he played spectacularly for the Philadelphia Flyers in 2003-2004. The Kings also added forward Kyle Calder to help provide even more offensive punch up front. Calder has been a player who continues to play better each season his career progresses. The LA Kings hope Calder will bring his A game and help them win. Calder's best outing was with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2005-2006 when he recorded 59 points. Calder has scored 21, 26, and 14 goals respectively in his last three seasons and the Kings hope he can continue even further in his production. Although LA is definitely trying to bulk up its scoring, their weakness last year was arguably the lack of defense.

The Kings have also made moves to improve their back end as well. LA picked up Ottawa Senators defensmen Tom Preissing. Preissing led the Senators defense in scoring last season with 38 points. Hopefully Preissing will be able to fill the Kings with some defensive punch, as this is their current weakness. Hopefully these four new members to the LA squad will provide the Kings with what they need. The addition of these veteran players should help LA's young players along with their development. Look for LA to be a contender this season.