Free agency a bust so far for Kings

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07/08/2010 - Philadelphia, PA (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - The Los Angeles area is home to Venice Beach, Hollywood and the famous 90210 zip code. The Fresh Prince once called it home (on television at least), and former Yankee icon Joe Torre made the jump from the Big Apple to the City of Angels.

There is no doubt that Los Angeles has a certain appeal that draws in the masses.

Unless you play in the NHL.

Despite being considered a franchise back on the rise, the Los Angeles Kings have yet to make a splash in free agency. Apparently, a team coming off a 12- win, 22-point improvement isn't very enticing for those skaters looking to relocate.

Not that the Kings haven't been in the headlines since free agency began on July 1. Los Angeles had been linked to the top unemployed prize, Ilya Kovalchuk, but was unable to convince the Russian sniper to lower his asking price and come out west, leading general manager Dean Lombardi to announce on Monday that his team was pulling out of the bidding war.

(The Los Angeles Times did report on Wednesday that the Kings were back in the hunt for Kovalchuk's services, but followed up on Thursday that they were again backing away from the high-priced winger.)

While the Kings were wasting their time courting Kovalchuk, they failed to add scoring help alongside lamp-lighter Anze Kopitar, the hard-working Dustin Brown and veteran leader Ryan Smyth, while Norris Trophy nominee Drew Doughty and fellow young blueliner Jack Johnson have yet to receive any new help at the back end.

Off the market are forward Ray Whitney and defensemen Anton Volchenkov, Dan Hamhuis and Paul Martin, leaving the Kings staring at a free agency list that now includes a host of players that come with questions, including hot-and- cold forwards Lee Stempniak and Alexei Ponikarovsky and injury-plagued defenders Willie Mitchell and Kim Johnsson.

That's not what you want to see when you are a club that is coming off its first playoff appearance since 2002 and resides in a tough Pacific Division.

In fact, free agency has so far only seen the losses of enforcer Raitis Ivanans (whose toughness has yet to be replaced) and defenseman Sean O'Donnell. It also appears as if the Kings aren't interested in bringing back their own free agent Alexander Frolov, a talented forward with questionable work ethic who could end up jumping ship to the KHL.

Cap space isn't an issue for the Kings, but appeal apparently is. The good news for Los Angeles is that years of stockpiling top-end draft picks, in addition to a logjam in net, gives the team depth to make some trades.

Reports have linked Philadelphia Flyers forward Simon Gagne, a two-time 40-goal scorer, to the Kings, and Ducks forward Bobby Ryan's name has popped up as well. Gagne comes with some risk as he has dealt with injuries in two of his last three seasons (including the dreaded concussion), and a move for the unhappy Ryan out in Anaheim will likely deal quite a blow to Los Angeles' prospects pool.

The Kings say they passed on Kovalchuk, a two-time 50-goal scorer, because his cost wouldn't allow them to keep together their young core. Doughty, Johnson and Wayne Simmonds are set for restricted free agency following 2010-11, and the philosophy based on keeping them around also smartly kept them from overpaying for some of this year's free agency group (think six years for Volchenkov by New Jersey or four years, $6.5 million by the Rangers for Derek Boogaard).

Still, for a club that hasn't been a fixture in the playoffs for the good part of this century, not making any type of moves has Los Angeles on the brink of losing the momentum captured with an excellent 2009-10 campaign.

Perhaps the Kings had too many eggs in the Kovalchuk basket or maybe the west coast just doesn't appeal to those who skate on a frozen pond, but hey, it was good enough for Wayne Gretzky.

And if Gretzky can't make some calls on the Kings behalf, maybe Jed Clampett can.

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The NFL preseason is approaching. Time for players, coaches and teams to turn over a new leaf. General managers have hired some new coaches, while coaches have added some offensive and defensive assistants to try and improve things. Here’s a look at some changes to look for in the preseason.

New York Jets: The Jets were one of the surprise teams in the NFL last season, making the playoffs under hard-driving first-year coach Eric Mangini. Mangini rebuilt the offensive line with rookies D'Brickashaw Ferguson (the No. 4 pick in the 2007 Draft) and Ohio State center (the 29th pick in the first round). This season he upgraded the defense with rookie linebacker David Harris (Michigan) while the secondary picked up a much needed top-notch corner in Pitt CB Darrelle Revis (No. 14 overall).

The Jets have added balance to the offense for QB Chad Pennington with RB Thomas Jones, essentially stolen from the Bears. He will upgrade a New York ground game that was 20th in rushing with a weak 3.5 yards per carry. They have their first true feature back since Curtis Martin. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer prefers ball control, like his father Marty. In preseason, behind Pennington you’ll see second-year QB Kellen Clemens and mobile newcomer QB Marques Tuiasosopo.

Jacksonville Jaguars: The heat is on Jack Del Rio in Jacksonville as the Jaguars flopped last season despite a ton of talent. Keep in mind that under Del Rio the Jaguars have been outstanding in preseason with a 12-4 SU, 11-5 ATS August mark. online football betting Their defense is loaded, it’s the offense that has been stuck in first gear the last few years.

Enter a new offensive coordinator in Dirk Koetter, the former Boise State and Arizona State pass-happy coach. He will try and upgrade a passing game that ranked 24th last season. Del Rio has criticized wide receivers and Matt Jones this summer, both of whom have battled injuries. It will be interesting to watch the “new” Jaguars passing game in preseason.

Arizona Cardinals: Word out of Arizona is that the players like new coach Ken Whisenhunt, who was the Steelers offensive coordinator last year. We think of Arizona as all-passing because their running game has been awful of late because of a poor offensive line. However, keep an eye on the running game in preseason as they’ve made a lot of changes.

The new coach brings in Russ Grimm to coach the offensive line (Grimm did a marvelous job building the Steelers line). They took Penn State OT Levi Jones in the first round and signed two offensive linemen, Mike Gandy and Al Johnson, to provide depth. Reggie Wells was moved from right tackle to left guard and they want more speed out of the offensive line for pulling and traps, a Pittsburgh staple under Bill Cowher.

Atlanta Falcons: While all the attention has been focused on QB Mike Vick’s off-field problems, new coach Bobby Petrino is revamping the Falcons from an all-running team to a more balanced one. Petrino likes the experience of backup QB Joey Harrington and he has veteran backup Chris Redman, who used to play for Petrino at Louisville and knows his offenses better than anyone. Petrino wants Vick to be more of a pocket passer.

The addition of FB Ovie Mughelli is a sign Petrino wants a power rushing attack behind a physical fullback and newcomer WR Joe Horn should upgrade what was a below average wideout corps. Petrino is changing their old zone-blocking scheme to a more traditional in-line blocking scheme and the offensive line is bigger. Rookie DE Jamaal Anderson was grabbed in the first round and the secondary got younger with former Auburn cornerback David Irons, who the Falcons think was a steal as a sixth-round pick.

Cleveland Browns: The 2007 Browns look like a double-edged sword. There was the excitement of the offseason, trading for RB Jamel Lewis, upgrading the offensive line with Wisconsin’s Joe Thomas (the No. 2 pick in the draft) and free agent LG Eric Steinbach, then trading for Notre Dame QB Brady Quinn when he fell to No. 22. GM Phil Savage and head coach Romeo Crennel feel they have a talented, balanced offense with these new pieces, plus TE >Kellen Winslow and WR Braylon Edwards.

However, were these moves made in desperation? And were they foolish ones? The Browns gave up their 2008 first-round pick for Quinn and we all know QBs take time to develop. And even first-round QBs can be busts (Joey Harrington, Akili Smith). We also don’t know if the offensive line is that much improved (31st in rushing in 2007) and they did nothing to improve a defense that was awful against the run (142 yds pg allowed).

The Browns have a new offensive coordinator in Rob Chudzinski. This is a young offense and Quinn looked tentative, indecisive and inaccurate early in camp. Crennel will play Charlie Frye, Quinn and Derek Anderson in preseason. And there is a mixed bag for rookie QBs receiving significant starts: Tim Couch (14), Kerry Collins (13), Ben Roethlisberger (13), Vince Young (13), Joey Harrington (12), Matt Leinart (11) and Kyle Boller (nine). While all the focus will be on the Browns new-look offense, I’m more concerned with the defense.

Carolina Panthers: Coach Jon Fox loves the ground game, but Carolina has made some interesting changes for 2007. Fox fired offensive coordinator Dan Henning and brings in Jeff Davidson to run the offense. Davidson has brought in zone-blocking schemes to the Panther offense, a dramatic change for a system that's been built around a power-running style.

In zone-blocking, offensive linemen are responsible for blocking any defender who appears in their zone, instead of focusing on one defender. The Broncos and Falcons have had success with the system, which features smaller, more athletic offensive linemen and can create running lanes on the inside and outside. Keep an eye in preseason on how Carolina adjusts as it will take time to learn the system. Fox has been one of the top coaches in preseason, with a 15-5 SU, 12-7-1 ATS August record.

Dallas Cowboys: WR Terrell Owens is still here, but QB Drew Bledsoe and Bill Parcells are gone. New head coach Wade Phillips takes over, replacing Parcells. He ran the Chargers defense last season. Phillips was chosen by teary-eyed owner Jerry Jones partly because he is one of the best 3-4 coaches in football and the Cowboys have loaded up on players for that scheme.

Remember that Phillips was blitz-happy with the Chargers last season and early reports out of the Dallas camp have mentioned how the Cowboys have been blitzing a lot, a departure from Parcells. The theme of the 2007 Dallas defense appears to be one of attack.

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