Kings Won’t Offer Contract to Johnson

Winger Craig Johnson, the Kings’ longest-tenured skater, will not be offered a new contract by the club and will become an unrestricted free agent July 1 along with goaltender Felix Potvin, General Manager Dave Taylor said Friday.

Backup goaltender Jamie Storr, the club’s longest-tenured player, also is expected to be set free if he does not agree to a contract calling for less than the qualifying offer of $1.75 million the club would otherwise have to make him before July 1 in order to retain his rights.

Johnson, 31, part of the trade that sent Wayne Gretzky to the St. Louis Blues, joined the Kings in February 1996. Storr, 27, was the Kings’ first-round pick, the seventh choice overall, in the 1994 NHL entry draft.

Taylor also said that defenseman Chris McAlpine and forwards Mikko Eloranta and Ken Belanger will not be back with the club next season. Eloranta was part of the October 2001 trade that brought center Jason Allison to the Kings and sent forwards Jozef Stumpel and Glen Murray to the Boston Bruins.