FanHouse JackJohnson

The Los Angeles Kings entered the offseason with a fair amount of cap space and plethora of young assets that could have been used to bring in a big-name player to help boost a young team from Western Conference bottom-feeder to legitimate playoff contender. Personally, I was pushing for disgruntled Senators forward Dany Heatley, who seemed like he would have been a nice fit. The Kings, however, may have found an even better fit, when you consider Heatley is, apparently, out of his mind and doesn't quite know what he wants or where he wants to go.

Late Friday night, the Kings acquired veteran forward Ryan Smyth from the Colorado Avalanche for defensemen Kyle Quincey and Tom Preissing, and a fifth-round draft pick. For the Kings? They get a gritty, veteran leader still capable of scoring 25-30 goals. For the Avs? It's a salary dump, and a head start in the season-long quest for Taylor Hall.

We're less than one year away from the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. Once again, the NHL will take a mid-season break and allow its players to participate in the Games.

After a wonderful run to silver in Salt Lake City back in 2002, Team USA was nothing short of disappointing in Torino three years ago. The Americans went just 1-3-1 in pool play, including an inexplicable tie against Latvia, before dropping a 4-3 decision to Finland in the quarterfinals. Heading into 2010, general manager Brian Burke has plenty of decisions to make, mainly surrounding the question of age.

Before the season, you probably could have turned a lot of heads by predicting that the Los Angeles Kings would make a run at a Western Conference playoff spot. They finished dead-last in the West a year ago, 20 points out of a playoff spot.

There is still a lot of hockey to go, but the Kings are on the verge of one of the league's better turnarounds this season. Heading into the start of a three-game homestand Thursday night, the Kings are just three points out of the eighth spot in the West, and they're playing the best hockey of any of the teams they're fighting with.

Sharks 5, Bruins 2: In what was the premier matchup of the night, San Jose scored four unanswered goals in the third period on its way to a 5-2 win over the Bruins.

After Milan Michalek gave the Sharks their first lead of the night midway through the third period, Joe Thornton helped burn his former team when he chipped in his 13th goal of the season. Ryane Clowe recorded three assists in the win, while Evgeni Nabokov made 28 saves.

Over at his home blog, James Mirtle has been keeping tabs on players which have survived the last of their team's training camp cuts, and will begin the season on their respective pro rosters.

Along with the well-hyped Calder candidates (such as Nicklas Backstrom, Patrick Kane, and Jack Johnson) are quite a few other skilled prospects which teams hope will develop into a solid full-time players for their squad.

A few to watch out for:

1. Jonathan Bernier, G, Los Angeles Kings - The Kings had some serious issues on goal. Rather than go with old hand Dan Cloutier, the Kings decided to keep the 19-year Bernier (their first rounder from '06) and start him in their season opener against the LA Kings. So far, so good, as Bernier won his debut match.

2. Milan Lucic, W, Boston Bruins - The Memorial Cup MVP (pictured) didn't have a point in the preseason, but the Bruins loved his physical style and brute strength. Lucic has come a long way in the past year, and will make at least a very good 4th line enforcer. He has a lot of upside, and is expected to be returned to the WHL. Keep an eye on him, as he'll be kicking ass and taking names in the NHL in the near future. Whether he'll be another Todd Bertuzzi (minus all of the attitude issues) or another Brad May (minus the cheap shots) remains to be seen.

3. Andrej Sekera, D, Buffalo Sabres - A third round pick from '04, Sekera is an underrated delight who is adept at both ends of the rink. He's not a likely Calder candidate, but should provide the Sabres with solid 2-way play for many years to come. Is he ready this year? I would opine that he needs another season of AHL seasoning, but the Sabres might not have the luxury of time.

Who's In: G J.S. Aubin (FA-TOR), LW Kyle Calder (FA-DET), C Michal Handzus (FA-CHI), D Jon Klemm (FA-DAL), LW Ladislav Nagy (FA-DAL), D Tom Preissing (FA-OTT) and D Brad Stuart (FA-CAL).

Who's Out: G Sean Burke (FA-Limbo), G Mathieu Garon (FA-EDM), RW Tom Kostopoulos (FA-MTL) and D Aaron Miller (FA-VAN).

What's Changed: What hasn't? As FanHouse's Jes Golbez pointed out back in July, Kings GM Dean Lombardi bypassed the big name free agents an opted for importing reasonably priced second tier veterans. The result: He filled the holes in the roster to supplement a promising core of young talent that includes Anze Kopitar, Mike Camalleri, Dustin Brown, Patrick O'Sullivan and Jack Johnson.

Better yet, most of the new imports are coming to town with something to prove. Calder was an enigma during a season where he quietly migrated from Philly to Detroit. Nagy made his way from Phoenix to Dallas and passed without a trace, while Stuart couldn't find his game in either Boston or Calgary. Are we sensing a theme here?

With the Kings boasting additional depth up front and on the blue line, the open question now falls in net, where five different goalies, including disastrous Japanese import Yutaka Fukufuji, gave up 283 goals last season. Second year head coach Marc Crawford admitted he made a hash of the situation, settling on a tandem of Dan Cloutier and Garon, a decision that sentenced Jason LaBarbera to a full season in the minors in order to keep him from being snatched off waivers. But another injury limited Cloutier to only 24 games, opening the revolving door to misery.

This year Cloutier and LaBarbera are back, along with free agent import Aubin. LaBarbera, who had a career year while he was trapped in the AHL and has a quick start in 2005-06 on his resume may be the best bet, but I have my doubts that anybody currently with the big club offers any sort of long-term solution. Here's hoping Rob Blake, Johnson, Stuart and the rest of the blue liners like blocking shots.