Kings Sign a Top Prospect

Faced with the possibility of losing a top prospect, the Kings opened their bankbook Thursday and signed forward Michael Cammalleri to a three-year contract worth about $3.15 million.

Cammalleri, a second-round pick in the 2000 NHL entry draft, informed the Kings through his agent last week that he would not return for his senior season at Michigan and was looking into playing junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League.

Had he chosen that option, Cammalleri would have become an unrestricted free agent after next season.

“That increased their leverage, and we increased our offer and got the contract done,” said Dave Taylor, King general manager. “We’ve been talking for a while, but it really picked up in the last week.”

Cammalleri’s deal includes a signing bonus of more than $1 million stretched over the first two years.

“I had a few options that I was looking over,” said Cammalleri, 20. “Obviously signing with L.A. was one of them. To do it is really exciting for me. ... It has always been my dream to play in the National Hockey League.”

Considered among the best players in college hockey, the 5-foot-9, 188-pound Cammalleri has the potential to play on one of the Kings’ top two lines next season, perhaps with center Jason Allison and right wing Adam Deadmarsh, Taylor said. Training camp opens Sept. 12.

“He’s not a big guy, but he’s very strong and very mature,” Taylor said. “He has excelled at every level of hockey he has played. The next step is to prove he can do it at the professional level.”

Cammalleri’s stock has risen dramatically since he was drafted. He led Michigan to the NCAA Final Four in each of the last two seasons, scoring a team-high 23 goals last season despite missing 15 games because of mononucleosis. He led the Wolverines with 29 goals in 2000-01.

A native of the Toronto suburb of Richmond Hill, Cammalleri was the leading scorer with 11 points in the 2002 World Junior Championships in the Czech Republic while playing for silver-medalist Canada. He was selected the tournament’s top forward.

“I’m a player who has always been looked upon to produce offensively, and I’ve always been able to do that,” he said.

Cammalleri said he was impressed with the Kings’ organization and recalled that amateur scout Mark Bavis was perhaps most responsible for the team drafting him. Bavis and another King scout, Ace Bailey, were killed Sept. 11 when their flight from Boston to Los Angeles was hijacked and crashed into the World Trade Center.

“When I was drafted by the Kings, I was told that Mark really wanted me to be a King,” he said. “It has been really special to me that he liked me as a player. I got to know him a little bit. He was extremely nice to me and a great person.”