NHL: KINGS SEND DEMITRA TO WILD SIDE L.A. GETS ROOM UNDER SALARY CAP BY DEALING FORWARD TO MINNESOTA.Byline: Staff and Wire Services The Kings all but signaled the beginning of a rebuilding phase Saturday when they traded Pavol Demitra Pavol Demitra (Born November 29, 1974 in Dubnica nad Váhom, Slovakia) is a Slovakian professional ice hockey player. He plays left wing and centre. He is currently playing for the Minnesota Wild. Playing career Pavol Demitra currently plays for the NHL's Minnesota Wild. , arguably their most talented forward, to Minnesota for a prospect and a draft pick. Demitra, 31, was limited to 58 games because of injury last season but totaled 25 goals and 37 assists. In exchange, the Kings received Patrick O'Sullivan Patrick O'Sullivan can refer to
The trade is the first major personnel move made by new general manager Dean Lombardi This article or section has multiple issues: * It needs to be expanded. Please help [ improve the article] or discuss these issues on the talk page. Dean Lombardi (born 1958 in Holyoke, Massachusetts) is president and general manager of the NHL's Los Angeles Kings. . With Demitra's $4.5-million salary off the books not recorded in the official financial records of a business; - usually used of payments made in cash to fraudulently avoid payment of taxes or of employment benefits. See also: Book for next season, the Kings will have significant salary-cap room, but Lombardi indicated that the team might be building more for future seasons. ``This was a decision that was difficult to make, but the reality is structurally that reserve list needs to be upgraded in certain areas, and we have to make deals like this,'' Lombardi said. ``We can continue puttering around, trying to be just good enough, or we have to make some moves like this that might hurt short term, but hopefully pay off down the road.'' -- Rich Hammond Rich Hammond Los Angeles Daily News sports writer. Instrumental in bringing the Los Angeles Kings hockey organization closer to the fans. He is the atypical "what a guy" to Kings fans everywhere. Rich Hammond on himself. Blues get their man: The St. Louis Blues selected defenseman Erik Johnson with the first pick in the NHL NHL Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, see there draft Saturday in Vancouver, British Columbia, making him the fifth American to be taken No. 1 overall. The 6-foot-4, 222-pound defenseman spent last season with the U.S. National Team Development Program, recording 11 goals and 22 points in just 38 games with the under-18 team. The Pittsburgh Penguins used the second pick to select Jordan Staal, the 17-year-old brother of Carolina Hurricanes star Eric Staal. Chicago selected center Jonathan Toews third, Washington took center Nicklas Backstrom fourth, and Boston selected Phil Kessel fifth. Also: Calgary acquired forward Alex Tanguay from Colorado in exchange for defenseman Jordan Leopold, a 2006 second-round pick -- 59th overall -- and a conditional second-round pick in next year's draft. ... Boston traded goalie Andrew Raycroft, the 2004 Calder Trophy winner, to Toronto for the rights to goalie prospect Tuukka Rask. CAPTION(S): photo Photo: Erik Johnson pulls on a St.Louis Blues jersey after being drafted No. 1 overall. Chuck Stoody/Associated Press |
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