Kings Complete Deal to Bring Back Stumpel

By Jerry Crowe

June 21, 2003 12 AM PT

Times Staff Writer

Meanwhile, in El Segundo, where memories of a Stanley Cup finals run are not as fresh as they are in Anaheim, the Kings plot their next move.

They addressed one of their most pressing needs Friday night when they reacquired center Jozef Stumpel in a trade with the Boston Bruins.

And with three first-round picks in today’s NHL entry draft at Nashville, along with several promising prospects in their system, they seem ready to bundle a package that also will bring them the veteran, top-line winger they covet.

A glut of high picks is great, but nobody drafted this weekend is expected to make the club next season and the Kings are eager to return to the playoffs after an injury-marred season in which they finished 10th in the Western Conference, 14 points out of the playoffs. They had all but promised that trades were forthcoming.

In March, President Tim Leiweke signaled a busy summer by extending the renewal date for season seats until after the draft, thereby giving fans several weeks longer than usual to assess the club’s off-season maneuverings.

He also said that if season-seat subscribers didn’t like what they saw on opening night in October, they could return their tickets for a full refund.

But before Friday night, other than wince through the spring as the Mighty Ducks barreled through the Western Conference playoffs, all the Kings had done was add goaltender Roman Cechmanek, who was dumped by the Philadelphia Flyers for a second-round pick in next year’s draft.

Still, Leiweke’s guarantees and the challenge of catching up to the Ducks notwithstanding, General Manager Dave Taylor said he felt no more pressure than usual this week, “Other than we’d like to improve our team if we can.”

They believe they’ve done that by adding Stumpel, who was the Kings’ top center for four seasons before he was shipped to the Bruins in the October 2001 deal that brought Jason Allison to the Kings.

To reacquire Stumpel, 30, the Kings gave up two draft picks, a fourth-rounder this year and a second-rounder next year.

The Bruins also sent a seventh-round pick in this year’s draft.

Dealing veterans Mathieu Schneider and Bryan Smolinski at the trade deadline in March gave Taylor room to maneuver within the club’s budget, he said. And holding the 13th, 26th and 27th picks today, the latter two the result of trades with the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings, provides leverage.

With the collective bargaining agreement between owners and players due to expire Sept. 15, 2004, and a possible lockout looming after next season, “I’ve seen a lot of teams trying to dump salary,” Taylor said, strongly hinting that the Kings will trade at least one of their top picks. “There are some potential deals out there.”

Taylor’s top priority is securing a winger to line up alongside Allison and Adam Deadmarsh. Two of the Kings’ top three forwards, they were consigned to injured reserve at season’s end because of concussions, but Taylor said both are expected to be 100% by the start of training camp Sept. 12, even though Deadmarsh said this week that his symptoms haven’t fully dissipated.

Taylor’s No. 2 priority was adding a second-line center, which he did in picking up the 6-foot-3, 225-pound, defensively sound Stumpel, who had 14 goals and 37 assists in 78 games last season.

The Kings believed that Stumpel was miscast as a top-line center. But Taylor, in a statement released by the club, called the veteran “a proven top-six forward who our coaches, players and fans are certainly familiar with” and said that Stumpel and Allison give the Kings “a formidable 1-2 punch down the middle.”

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

NHL Draft

At a Glance

* When: Rounds 1-3 today, 10 a.m. PDT, ESPN2; Rounds 4-9, Sunday, 7 a.m. PDT

* Where: Nashville

FIRST-ROUND ORDER

Florida

2. Carolina

3. Pittsburgh

4. Columbus

5. Buffalo

6. San Jose

7. Nashville

8. Atlanta

9. Calgary

10. Montreal

11. Philadelphia-a

12. N.Y. Rangers

13. KINGS

14. Chicago

15. N.Y. Islanders

16. Boston

17. Edmonton

18. Washington

19. DUCKS

20. Minnesota

21. San Jose-b

22. New Jersey-c

23. Vancouver

24. Philadelphia

25. Tampa Bay

26. KINGS-d

27. KINGS-e

28. Dallas

29. Ottawa

30. St. Louis-c

a-Philadelphia traded C Daymond Langkow to Phoenix for Phoenix’s second-round pick in the 2002 entry draft (pick later traded by Philadelphia) and first-round pick in the 2003 entry draft (July 2, 2001); b-San Jose traded RW Owen Nolan to Toronto for C Alyn McCauley, C Brad Boyes and Toronto’s first-round pick in the 2003 entry draft (March 6, 2003). c-As part of the Scott Stevens tampering decision, New Jersey was awarded, and is exercising this year, the right to switch first-round picks with St. Louis (Jan. 4, 1999). d-Kings traded D Rob Blake and C Steven Reinprecht to Colorado for RW Adam Deadmarsh, D Aaron Miller, C Jared Aulin, Colorado’s first-round pick in the 2001 entry draft (Dave Steckel) and first-round pick in the 2003 entry draft (Feb. 22, 2001). e-Kings traded D Mathieu Schneider to Detroit for C Sean Avery, D Maxim Kuznetsov, Detroit’s first-round pick in the 2003 entry draft and second-round pick in the 2004 entry draft (March 11, 2003).

Top Prospects

ERIC STAAL

Born: Thunder Bay, Canada

2002-03: Peterborough

Position: Center

Ht./Wt.: 6-3/182

Shoots: Left

Central Scouting: No. 1 North American skater

MARC-ANDRE FLEURY

Born: Sorel, Canada

2002-03: Cape Breton

Position: Goaltender