Kings, Fiset Take Care of Business

The Kings removed one factor from their decision-making process concerning Stephane Fiset, signing the goalie to a three-year contract Thursday that will average $2.35 million a season.

The team also has an option on a fourth year, and if that is exercised the average value over the life of the deal rises to $2.475 million a season.

There are bonuses for games played and victories, largely tied to the team’s record.

“Now we can make our decisions based on his performance, rather than whether we can sign him or not,” said Dave Taylor, the Kings’ senior vice president and general manager.

The major decision will come at the end of the season, when the team can protect only one goalie in the expansion draft to stock the franchises in Minnesota and Columbus, Ohio.

“I think this will make their decision easier,” Fiset said. “I want to stay here. I want to play here for a long time. We’ve got a good team, a good ownership situation and things are getting better all the time. I don’t want to miss this.”

Jamie Storr, who is signed through next season, is 23 and, as a former first-round draft choice, has been considered by many to be the team’s future goalie .

Fiset, 29, has been working under a $2.1-million, one-year deal that was awarded him through off-season arbitration. The contract he signed Thursday can bind him to the club through the 2003-2004 season.

Without the new deal, he would have been one more season removed from unrestricted free agency, and that--along with the absence of a contract--might have prompted the Kings to expose him for the expansion draft.

Fiset has dedicated himself to a fitness regimen that, he says, is having a positive effect on his play.

He has played 13 of the team’s 15 games, with a 7-3-3 record, a 2.25 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage.

The numbers are among the league’s best.

“If I hadn’t had a good start or if I had been hurt, I don’t think we’d be talking right now,” he said.

Fiset and Storr came out of training camp virtually even. Fiset was named the starter for the season opener at Nashville, shut out the Predators, 2-0, and has maintained the best statistics of his 10-season NHL career.

“I’m really happy,” Fiset said. “Last summer, in arbitration, that wasn’t so good. . . . Now we know that this summer there won’t be any problems.”