Longshot Norton Earns Roster Spot

Not that he was eager or anything, but Brad Norton was on a plane for Los Angeles only hours after King General Manager Dave Taylor, on the eve of training camp, interrupted the defenseman’s dinner in Boston to invite him to try out.

Norton, 27, didn’t have a contract and was a longshot to make the Kings’ roster, much less the roster of their American League team at Manchester, N.H., but the Kings needed a big body in camp and Norton, cut loose by the Florida Panthers in July, needed a job.

He arrived at about 3 a.m. and set about making it difficult for the Kings to turn him away. Norton, 6 feet 4 and 238 pounds, signed a one-year, $450,000 contract Tuesday and made his King debut Wednesday night.

“It’s a credit to him,” Coach Andy Murray said. “It’s not very often that you come to camp without a contract as a free agent and even get a contract to play in the American League, and here he is playing in the NHL.”

The Kings are glad to have him.

“That’s one thing this club’s been missing for a while, a defenseman of his size and aggressiveness,” said Mathieu Schneider, who was paired with Norton in the 4-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. “If you have a guy like that in the lineup who can play a regular shift, it makes it that much more difficult for the other team.

“We have a pretty physical defense, but we didn’t have the toughness where a guy was afraid to stand in front of our net because he might get beat up.”

Norton, younger brother of NHL journeyman Jeff Norton, might not stick around when Aaron Miller returns from the injured list, but he’s grateful for the chance.

“It was risky, for sure,” he said of his decision to come to camp without a contract, “but I give these guys all the credit in the world for giving me a fair shot to make the team and to prove myself.”