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Kings re-sign Sean O’Donnell and Erik Ersberg

By Helene Elliott
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This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

The Kings, still spectators on NHL trade deadline day, made two internal moves.

As General Manager Dean Lombardi told The Times the other day, he re-signed defenseman Sean O’Donnell, who has been a good mentor to the team’s young defenseman. The extension is for one year at $1.25 million.

Lombardi also re-signed goaltender Erik Ersberg. He got a two-year deal for an average of $750,000. In today’s NHL that’s a bargain.

We’re told that the door remains closed to Lombardi’s office--think of the Batcave and you have an idea of what it looks like--so the Kings might jump into what has otherwise been a relatively dull market so far.

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Nothing startling has happened. I’m happy for Olli Jokinen, who was traded from Phoenix to Calgary and finally will get a chance to play in the playoffs. The poor guy, chosen third overall by the Kings in 1997, has never made it to postseason play with the Kings, Islanders or Florida.

--Helene Elliott

Left photo: Kings veteran defenseman Sean O’Donnell. Credit: Kirby Lee / US PRESSWIRE. Right photo: Kings goalie Erik Ersberg. Credit: Lori Shepler / Los Angeles Times

Sports Now
Helene Elliott

Helene Elliott was with the Los Angeles Times’ Sports department from 1989 to 2024, first as a staff writer and then, starting in 2006, as a columnist. She became the first female journalist to be honored with a plaque in the Hall of Fame of a major professional sport as the 2005 winner of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Elmer Ferguson Award, awarded to writers “who have brought honor to journalism and to hockey.” A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., and graduate of Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism, she has covered 18 Olympics.

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