Stumpel Closer, but Not to Deal

The once and future King skated alone at noon Wednesday, after his once and future teammates had gone home to get ready to play St. Louis later that evening at Staples Center.

Yes, Jozef Stumpel is in town.

Though he remains unsigned, Stumpel acceded to the wishes of Kings’ management to come to Southern California from his native Slovakia after scouts had seen him leave his final game for Bratislava on Oct. 3 after one period.

Back problems were feared, but a battery of tests revealed none.

A lack of conditioning was feared, and another battery of tests and a skate under the auspices of Dave Taylor, the Kings’ senior vice president and general manager, and Kevin Gilmore, who negotiates contracts, showed that Stumpel is in shape.

So Stumpel, slated to center a line that will include Ziggy Palffy and, presumably, Luc Robitaille, is close to returning to the Kings, but lacks one important thing: a contract.

Until he gets one, Eric Belanger centers the line. He had a goal and two assists in the season opener at Washington, but had not scored since going into Wednesday’s game.

Two weeks ago, the Kings made a three-year “take-it-or-leave-it” offer that began at $2.45 million for the first season, tempered by a daily fine for missing training camp that would drop it below the $2.2 million they originally offered when all this began in August.

If he doesn’t sign soon, his pro-rated salary will drop below the $1.75 million he earned last season.

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Defenseman Aki Berg was back in the lineup Wednesday night for the second game in a row, replacing Jere Karalahti and skating with Mattias Norstrom.

That leaves only rookie winger Tomas Vlasak without game experience this season.

Vlasak skated on a line with Palffy and Belanger in training camp, but Robitaille was moved to that line for the final exhibition game, against Colorado at Las Vegas, and for all four regular-season games so far.