A couple of interesting tidbits from prominent LA Kings journalists Jon Rosen and Lisa Dillman:
Looking like Kings defenseman Mtt Greene will be staying. In LA. Deal is close…
— lisa dillman (@reallisa) June 23, 2014
Have heard the two sides made progress over the weekend on a Gaborik contract, but there’s still work to be done.
— Jon Rosen (@lakingsinsider) June 23, 2014
We took a look at the Kings cap situation last week, and surmised the Kings were likely to bring back just one of Willie Mitchell or Matt Greene. It looks like Greene will be that guy. According to Darren Dreger, Greene will be signing a four year deal.
That term is very surprising, given that Greene is coming off a down year and is heading into his age 32 season. It’s safe to assume that in return for the long term contract, the Kings would be receiving a low cap hit in return.
For Willie Mitchell this likely means his career as an LA King is over. Even if the Kings fail to bring back Marian Gaborik, there isn’t room for him on the backend unless the Kings make a trade. Defensive prospect Brayden McNabb is an RFA and will need to be rostered next season (or lost to waivers) after he is re-signed. With McNabb and Greene on next season’s roster that would put the Kings at 7 defensemen.
The Kings were rumored to have a 3 year contract for Marian Gaborik on the table at 3 years and $5.5M-$6M per. It’s easy to imagine Gaborik fetching something much better on the open market. No word on what Gaborik is asking, but it would seem that the Kings couldn’t offer much more than that given their current cap situation. After renewals for Greene, Dwight King, Linden Vey and Brayden McNabb it would seem that $7M would be the upper limit of what the Kings could offer. It’s likely that the work that needs to be done would be related to the length of the contract.
We’ll keep you updated on any news as these stories develop.
UPDATE
As we guessed, it looks like Greene’s cap hit will be $2.5M:
A few days of detail work left on Matt Greene’s new contract with the LA Kings. Expected: 4 years, $10 mil…annual average of $2.5 mil.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 24, 2014
UPDATE #2
Greene’s contract is official. Here’s the press release.
It’s Official: Matt Greene has signed a new four year contract with the #LAKings pic.twitter.com/JXWQemWCIy
— LA Kings (@LAKings) June 25, 2014