PLENTY OF SPACE UNDER TREE OF TAYLOR, KINGS.

Byline: MATT McHALE NHL 

ST. LOUIS - T'is the night before Christmas and Dave Taylor still hasn't done his shopping.

During the holiday break, the Kings' general manager must set the course for the rest of the season. Less than two years after he was named NHL executive of the year, Taylor knows the hurdles are bigger than ever.

As jittery absentee ownership acts as if it needs to pay their players with food stamps, Taylor has bigger problems. Jason Allison's knee is acting up again. And the toys from the Rob Blake deal - Adam Deadmarsh and Aaron Miller - are badly broken.

Through 34 games, it is hard to get your arms around the Kings. Some nights they are the gritty, overachieving bunch that rocks Staples Center. Other nights, like Sunday, they don't even show up. And in Thursday's victory over the Mighty Ducks, they were a little of both. Their comeback was a thriller. But how did they blow a lead when they went into the third period ahead 3-1 with a five-on-three power play for the first two minutes?

On Monday night against the Blues, they benched defenseman Lubomir Visnovsky, who might be the true image for this team. When he keeps moving his feet, he is magic. When he slips into one of those funks, he is a curse. Right now he is playing with a bad back, when he is playing at all.

Compounding the trouble, there are two new places at the Western Conference table - Minnesota and the Mighty Ducks. Both are playing well and look deep enough to get to the postseason.

The Ducks and Wild were out of the picture last year. So were the Edmonton Oilers. All are ahead of the Kings. Behind them are the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche, both division winners last season.

The answer for the Kings is to upgrade their talent, especially on their secondary offensive line.

There are plenty of teams whose seasons already are lost. With the collective-bargaining agreement set to expire after next season, there are teams looking to get some of their high-priced talent off the payroll. The Kings have said they don't want to take on big-money players, which is fine. But there is not enough talent on the team to win consistently.

It is fun to see who is out there. Don't be surprised if Calgary's Jarome Iginla, last year's NHL scoring leader, winds up somewhere else. Flames ownership is hemorrhaging even if no one is around to see it.

After 10 consecutive losses, the feel-good Penguins are dreadful again. A Mario Lemieux-Jaromir Jagr reunion was two-thirds full in Pittsburgh. They can't afford to pay dazzling Alexei Kovalev much longer.

The Washington Capitals wouldn't mind dumping Jagr or Peter Bondra.

Buffalo's Miroslav Satan and Chris Gratton are available. So are Atlanta's Victor Kozlov and Sean McEachern, Carolina's Sami Kapanen, Edmonton's Todd Marchant, the Rangers' Petr Nedved and Radek Dvorak, New Jersey's Scott Gomez, Philadelphia's Simon Gagne and Toronto's Darcy Tucker. The list is long.

Unlike past seasons, the Kings have players that could help other teams. Bryan Smolinski is an unrestricted free agent and at his best during the playoffs. He lost his second-line center job to Eric Belanger and a change might jump-start his career.

A year ago, Miller was the Kings' top defenseman and a player the club was anxious to tie up long term. He also is unrestricted, but now he has missed all of training camp and two months of the season with abdominal surgery and a broken foot. The Kings aren't so anxious anymore.

What about Ziggy Palffy? He can still score, but he is owed the balance of $7 million and $7.5 million.

The club's goaltending situation is intriguing. The Kings also wanted to get Felix Potvin signed for the long term, but talks stalled and now there are no talks. He is making $3.3 million and would like to stay.

But Jamie Storr, who has frustrated the Kings most of his career, is now considered probably the league's best backup. The Kings, however, can't help but wonder if he can handle the job full time. He had the job two years ago and gave it away. He is making $1.6 million.

The Kings also are getting far less from their top four prospects - Alexander Frolov, Mike Cammalleri, Jared Aulin and Yanick Lehoux - than expected. Frolov has made some dazzling offensive moves, but he also disappears during games. He is a keeper. It's too early to tell whether Cammalleri will cut it in the NHL at 5-foot-8, but he was the best college player in the country last year.

Aulin and Lehoux started the season in the minors and have not been that impressive. It might be time to look at moving a couple of those prospects before they aren't prospects anymore.

But Taylor is seeing what Ollie Jokinen is doing in Florida. Jokinen was Taylor's first No. 1 draft choice as GM and third overall in 1997. He was a bust with the Kings and Islanders. Now, he is the Panthers' leading scorer.

Sometimes, the best deals are made from within. A lot of people have been laughing at the Ducks the past few years, and it didn't stop when they signed center Steve Rucchin to a four-year contract after he missed most of the past two seasons with a concussion. There were no guarantees he ever would be the same again.

Now, he is the reason many think the Ducks are for real, scoring as many goals this season as he did in the past two years.

Taylor is the smartest guy in the Kings' organization. He has earned his applause. Now it is time to do it again. While the rest of the Kings enjoy the next two days off, Taylor needs to start shopping.

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