Signing in Los Angeles sounded like it was an easy decision for Mitchell.  Not only will he be counted on to provide rock solid D, but he will be counted on as one of the most reliable locker room guys on the team.  What Mitchell brings to the Kings is so much more than what fans will see on the ice. 

From what has been said, the level of respect shown to Mitchell by Kings' management was second to none.  This will not go unnoticed by other top tier free agents.  Look for more big names to sign with the Kings in the future.  This is all part of the culture that Dean Lombardi has created around the Kings organization.  This was really the first example of the culture that we have seen all off season. 

Have the Kings improved with this signing?  Absolutely. 

The Kings are now only one piece short of becoming a true contender.  A lot of people thought that the top six spot would be filled by Ilya Kovalchuk this off season, but doesn't look like that is going to come true.  The Kings are incredibly close to making a big push towards Lord Stanley's cup.  Thanks to Mitchell, this team has been taken to the next level without even hitting the ice. 

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Mitchell was selected 199th overall in the 1996 NHL Draft by the New Jersey Devils. Mitchell spent a few years with the Albany River Rats (Devils' farm team) before leaving for Minnesota. He had a few solid years with the Wild before he moved on to the Vancouver Canucks.

Willie Mitchell is a very physical shut-down defenseman who will fit right in with the Kings defense. He also brings experience and leadership to a young team.

Personally, I love this signing. Mitchell will be a great mentor for the Kings' young defenseman such as Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson. He is also the shut-down defenseman the Kings lacked in the playoff series against the Vancouver Canucks.

The contract terms have yet to officially be announced, but I can confirm that it is a two-year deal that will earn him $3.5 million per season.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to email me at ToddCordellNHL@Gmail.com anytime, thanks.

This article can also be found at Sportshaze.com and MTRMedia.com

Follow me on twitter for the latest news and rumors @ToddNHL

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The Kings have yet to announce the deal or the terms. However, look for the Kings to announce the signing soon.

Mitchell is the tough, rugged veteran defenseman that the Kings have been looking for.

He will definitely bolster their already impressive defensive corps. Expect the addition of Mitchell to help the Kings come closer to the Stanley Cup Championship.

More updates on the signing coming soon.

Update:

The terms have come out. Mitchell has signed a two year contract worth $7M.

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For questions concerning my articles, please inbox me or write on my B/R profile's bulletin board.

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“I just try to worry about myself,” said Zatkoff, goaltender for the Manchester Monarchs of the American League. “I know that if I take care of my business, work hard and play well, then I’m going to get my opportunities, whether it’s with the Kings organization or someone else down the road.”

Franchise goaltender or not, Zatkoff has been turning heads in the hockey world with his play ever since he was drafted in the third round (74th overall) by the Kings in the 2006.

 Having played in the United States League as a youngster, Zatkoff had an urge to attend college, rather than take the often-touted major junior route. Playing for Miami University in Ohio, he put up incredible numbers, with save percentages of .928, .919, and .933 in his three years of college. He had goals against averages of 2.02, 2.26, and 1.72, and in his junior year, he was the star of the team, going 27-8-1 during the season.

After being drafted though, Zatkoff spent some time with the Ontario Reign of the ECHL before being brought up to the AHL late in the 2008-09 season. He started the ’09-10 campaign with a bang, going 8-5 with a .932 SP and a 2.38 GAA for Manchester. Although his numbers leveled out down the stretch, he still finished with a respectable .915 SP and a 2.92 GAA.

“I think his strengths are his patience with the puck, reading releases, and using his big body to stop the puck,” said Los Angeles goaltending coach Bill Ranford. “I think he’s a student of the game, he’s always trying to learn. That’s real important to his game and his development, to continue to learn and just wanting to be better."

Many goaltenders would be discouraged knowing there is so much talent on the depth chart in front of them. With Jonathan Quick and Bernier in the organization, Zatkoff could easily get down on his situation, but that’s not how he interprets his position.

“It’s exciting that we have a lot of youth on our team,” Zatkoff said. “We’re one of the youngest teams in the league and when we’re healthy, we’re one of the best in the league. As far as the goaltending goes, there’s a lot of great goalies in the system, but…it’s been big for me to be able to play with (Bernier) and watch and learn from him.”

To get to the next level, Zatkoff knows improvement is needed.

 “I pride myself on making it easy, staying square to the puck, and not getting too scrambly. As far as weaknesses go, I think I can always get stronger. I’m 6-foot-2, 170, so I think I can always get stronger and put on a little more muscle.”

Zatkoff, who was ranked eighth among Los Angeles prospects in THN’s Future Watch 2010, understands the trail to the NHL is long and winding, but he is ready for the challenge.

“I think if I have a good offseason, I can come in and prove in camp that I can play with Quick and Bernie—I want to go in there and turn some heads. Like I said, I’ll get my opportunity and make the most of it—and hopefully stick.”

Alan Bass is a writer for The Hockey News and THN.com. In addition to writing for Inside Hockey and Pro Hockey News, he has also worked for the Philadelphia Flyers. He is the General Manager of the Muhlenberg College hockey team as well. You can contact him at BergHockey24@gmail.com.

This article was originally featured on TheHockeyNews.com. For the original article, click here.

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The Kings had a breakout year last season.  They tied their franchise record for wins in a season (46), had the third most points in franchise history (101), and made the postseason for the first time since the 2001-02 season. The Kings eventually lost to the Canucks in six games in the Western Conference quarterfinals, but the season has to be considered a step in the right direction for general manager Dean Lombardi and head coach Terry Murray.

20-year-old Drew Doughty played well above his age and NHL experience.  The former second overall pick of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft had a breakout year.  His 59 points was good for second on the team and third in the NHL in scoring among defensemen.  He had five game winning goals, best in the league for a defender, and played a great two-way game with a +20.  Doughty did not seemed phase by the speed of the NHL playoffs as he led the team in points (seven points in six games) and was tied for the lead with three goals. Not to mention, he was a part of the Canadian Olympic Gold Medal team. `

The Kings were led in scoring for the third straight year by center Anze Kopitar.  The soon to be 23-year-old had career highs in goals (34), assists (47), points (81), power play goals (14) and plus minus (+8).  Free Agent pick up Ryan Smyth, when healthy, added a much needed offensive punch scoring 22 goals and 53 points in only 67 games played.

The Kings also benefited from the continued development of goaltender Jonathan Quick. The 24-year-old ranked sixth in the NHL in wins (39) and prove he could take the bulk  of the playing time, playing in 72 games (fourth in the league). He succeeded even with former first round pick, and Kings Goalie of the future, Jonathan Bernier, nipping at his heals, who has a 3-0 record with only four goals against in three games last season.

Offseason Ins:

LW Alexei Ponikarovsky (TOR/PIT: 77 GP, 21G-29A-50P), G Jonathan Bernier (AHL: 58 GP, 30-21-6, 2.03 GAA, .936 save%), D Thomas Hickey (AHL: 19 GP, 1G-5A-6P), D Colten Teubert (WHL: 60 GP, 10G-30A-40P), D Vyacheslav Voynov (AHL: 79 GP, 10G-19A-29P)

Offseason Outs:

LW Alexander Frolov (51 Pts), D Sean O'Donnell (78 GP), LW Raitis Ivanans (136 PIM), D Randy Jones (21 Pts), LW Fredrik Modin (5 Pts in 20 GP), C Jeff Halpern (49.4 FO%)

What Makes Them Tick:

Goals, goals and more goals is the mantra the Kings had last season.  They lit the lamp 231 times good for a ninth place tie in the NHL. They had a balanced scoring attack that featured 11 players who scored double digit in goals, with eight of them scoring 15+ goals. They also continued to field a very productive power play, which was ranked seventh in the league.  That was the highest ranking for the Kings since they finished with the top ranked power play eight seasons ago in 2001-02.

The Kings have a very deep lineup and when healthy the top line of Kopitar, Smyth, and Justin Williams can match any top line in scoring.  The Kings round out their balanced scoring with players like captain Dustin Brown and Wayne Simmonds. The 25-year-old Brown is one of the toughest players to play against and a consistent scorer with three straight 20+ goal seasons.  The soon to be 22-year-old Simmonds took advantage of extra playing time and chipped in 16 goals and 40 points and was a team-best +22.

What Could Make Them Go Boom:

The Kings have a great top defensive pairing of budding superstar Drew Doughty and tough as nails; do the dirty work Rob Scuderi.  After that they have some big question marks on the backline.  The dependable Matt Greene will miss some time after having surgery on his left shoulder opening the door for rookies and former first round picks Thomas Hickey and Colten Teubert and former second round pick Vyacheslav Voynov.

Those defenders will have to live up to their potential for the Kings to have success early and offset the loss of Greene.  The 23-year-old Jack Johnson will have to improve his defensive play as he was a team worse -15.  The former third overall pick will also have to stay healthy to improve those +/- numbers as he has yet to play more than 41 games in back-to-back seasons.   

Player to Watch:

Jonathan Bernier was 19 years old and named the Kings starting goalie when they opened up in London in 2007-08, two seasons later the 11^th overall pick of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft could be in the same position.  Now 22-year-old Bernier is coming off a season where he won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s outstanding goaltender.  He led the league in save percentage (.936) and shutouts (9) and was second in goals against average (2.03).

Bernier even got a call up on an emergency basis last season in March and made a case to not be sent back down playing three games and only giving up four goals all three wins for the Kings.  With Quick playing so many games last season and backup Erik Ersberg a pending UFA, look for the Kings to play their goalie of the future and don`t be surprised if he gets most of the time by the end of the year.   

Prediction:

It took this long to mention Iyla Kovalchuk`s name, but the Kings did make a valiant pitch to the biggest free agent out there, but did not want to give into his ridiculous salary demands.  Signing Kovalchuk, and his scoring ability, would of sent a message to the Sharks, who have won three-straight Pacific division crowns, but even without him the Kings posses a deep scoring unit that will once again fight for a playoff spot.    

The Kings according to capgeek.com have 19 players signed and about $12 million of cap space, so Dean Lombardi could be a big player at the trade deadline since he did not get the big fish he sought this offseason. The Kings seem to be heading in the right direction and have the pieces in place to contend for years to come.

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Ponikarovsky has averaged roughly 20 goals for the last six seasons with around 20-30 assists and a plus five rating.

He has been solid and is worth around the $3.2 million he is slated to get. His one-year contract seems to be following the path of other burgeoning stars in order to prove his worth.

Ponikarovsky is built like a Greek God. Absolutely huge and very powerful. The problem is that he does not use his size a lot and is not a pure goal scorer. As such, Ponikarovsky fell out of favour with Brian Burke and was thus traded to Pittsburgh for Luca Caputi.

He is, however, a very solid skater. While he does not use his big body and strength as much as he should, the potential for growth is there. He has the tools and the coaching staff necessary to motivate him to advance his game. His strength lies in the corners and in front of the net.

Ponikarovsky must improve now, otherwise the youngsters on the Kings may regress, making this a huge problem for Dean Lombardi. To be fair, he is only signed on for one year and this is well worth the risk.

Despite the fact he played with Mats Sundin, he was never anything special. He is at best a second line winger on an average team. He has not shown that he can become a true leader for a championship team.

The Kings are hoping that will change.

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It's now 26 days into the NHL free agency and the Kings have made no attempts to reconnect with the Russian winger. Frolov just completed the final year of his four-year contract that earned him $14.5 million.

In 2006-2007, Frolov had a career high in goals (35) and points (71), but has seen his point totals go down ever since from 71 to 67 to 59, then to 51. Frolov will get paid at least $4 million from the Kings for the final year of his contract, but now since his deal with L.A. is done and his production has been going south, who might be willing to take a chance on Frolov?

Sources say Frolov has been linked to the New York Rangers, but nothing is official yet. Other than the Rangers, the only rumored destination for Frolov was the KHL in his home country of Russia.

If the lifelong King does decide to head east to New York, he will most likely find himself on one of the top two lines. The Rangers are in need of a scoring forward due to the loss of Olli Jokinen and Frolov is perfectly capable of getting the job done.

It’s unclear whether Frolov has interest in staying in Los Angeles, but the lifelong Kings’ winger will most likely sign with the New York Rangers within the next couple days.

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Although it would have been nice to see Kovalchuk put on a Los Angeles Kings jersey, the world has not come to an end. In fact, Kovy not coming to the west coast can benefit the Kings in more way than one.

With the millions of dollars saved by the Kings by not signing the Russian superstar, their first order of business should be extedning the contracts of Norris Trophy finalist Drew Doughty, Jack Johnson, and Wayne Simmonds who all become RFA's next summer. Doughty will be looking for a hefty raise of AT LEAST $4 million per year. Johnson might be looking for something between $3 and $4.5 million as well, whereas Wayne Simmonds should expect something below $3 million. Kings GM Dean Lombardi might also decide he wants to bring back young goaltender Erik Ersberg, who is a UFA next summer.

Even with the young players needing contract extensions, that doesnt play in until next summer, therefore the Kings can still make a push at some offensive fire power via trading or the free agency market.

Shall the Kings decide to trade, the only big name out there linked to the Kings is Boston Bruins center, Marc Savard. Savard is not quite the same player as Ilya Kovalchuk, but I can't imagine Kings fans being upset by the addition of Savard. Boston has been shopping players and trading a considerable amount this offseason, so why not again?

Former Flyer and new Lighting forward Simon Gagne was being looked at by the Kings as well, but with Kovalchuk re-signing with New Jersey and Gagne being traded to Tampa Bay within an hour of each other the Kings summer plans took a serious tumble right in front of them.

The most realistic option for the Kings now would be to either settle with the team they have now and make room for some kids on the roster or pursue some other talented free agents.

Alexander Frolov remains on the free agent market, but with his lack of production over the past couple of years its unlikely he will be back in Los Angeles.

A few others the Kings could approach are Maxim Afinogenov, Lee Stempniak, and Alexei Ponikarovsky. Stempniak made a lot of noise after he was dealt to Phoenix last year so maybe another change of scenery would be good for him. 6'4 230 pound forward Alexei Ponikarovsky could be another player like Handzus. His big body is perfect to screen goalies, score rebounds goals, cause traffic in front of the net, and annoy the opposing goalie. As for Afinogenov, he is the type of player the Kings can try to reel in for a reasonable amount of money and limited number of years. With no Kovalchuk, this means Lombardi will most likely extend Doughty, Johnson, and Simmonds, so why not bring in an old veteran who knows the game like Maxim Afinogenov. He's a perfect player to teach the younger Kings players a thing or two about the NHL.

At the end of the day, Kings fans surely have the right to be upset, but you will find out a couple years down the road how glad you really are that Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson are still wearing Kings colors. Lombardi seems to be taking the franchise in the right direction so we will see where it goes.

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Helene Elliot of the Los Angeles Times is reporting that, while a deal is not yet finalized, it may just be a matter of finalizing term and no-trade/no-movement clauses.

Kovalchuk, who has also been pursued heavily by the New Jersey Devils, would be a terrific fit in Los Angeles, supplying them with one of the NHL’s premier goal scorers and star power.

If the deal is consummated the Kings could boast a first line that may include the likes of Kovalchuk at left wing, Anze Kopitar at centre and Dustin Brown on the right side, which may very well emerge as one of the NHL’s most feared lines.

While not expected to sign by the end of the weekend, it appears as if Kovalchuk will sign with the Kings sometime next week.

For the New Jersey Devils, they will now have to direct their focus on acquiring an offensive defenseman or another offensive forward to fill the void left by Kovalchuk’s departure.

The Devils acquired Kovalchuk last season for a package of players that included defenseman Johnny Oduya, rookie forward Niclas Bergfors, Prospect Patrice Cormier and the Devils first round draft choice in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft, which was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks as part of the Dustin Byfuglien deal at the Draft.

It was rumored earlier this week that the Kings had been looking at a deal with the Philadelphia Flyers that would see Simon Gagne and Scott Hartnell head to the Kings for a package of youngsters that may include highly-touted goaltender Jonathan Bernier.

Kovalchuk turned down a deal with the Atlanta Thrashers at last year's trade deadline that would have seen him earn over $100 million over 10 years, one of the richest deals in NHL history.

While the numbers are unknown, it appears as if Kovalchuk will sign for as much as $80-$100 million over 12-15 years.

Stay tuned, the Kovalchuk saga might just be beginning.

Until next time.

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