Tuomainen Looks for the Real Deal

Marko Tuomainen, in the Kings’ training camp without a contract although he played for them last season, is trying to show the versatility he figures he needs to stay with the team when camp ends.

Tuomainen, a checking winger by trade, became a center in Tuesday’s scrimmage, replacing Bob Corkum, who was held out as a precaution. He has a strained hip muscle.

“I think that line played best today,” Coach Andy Murray said of a group that included Tuomainen, flanked by Kelly Buchberger and rookie Nate Miller, who had a goal in the scrimmage.

Tuomainen normally plays right wing on that line, with Corkum the center and Buchberger on the left side, and it’s charged with taking on the opponents’ best line. In Tuomainen’s case, there is also an offensive factor. He had nine goals last season.

But no contract at season’s end.

He became a free agent, mulled offers from other teams for two-way deals--for one salary if he played in the minors, another if he played in the NHL--including one with the expansion Columbus Blue Jackets, a team he would have figured to have a better chance of making.

“But I talked to [Murray] here and I felt he would give me a chance,” Tuomainen said. “This is the team that gave me a chance to play in the NHL.”

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Center Jozef Stumpel, the Kings’ lone holdout, has signed a one-month contract with Slovan Bratislava in his native Slovakia.