Brad Stuart is heading back to California and a reunion with Dean Lombardi.
The LA Kings announced today the signing of defenseman Brad Stuart to a one-year, $3.5 million contract.
This signing wasn't unexpected, since Lombardi as general manager of the San Jose Sharks drafted Stuart third overall in the 1998 entry draft and he played for the Sharks from 1999 until November 30th, 2005, when he was dealt along with Marco Sturm and Wayne Primeau to Boston for Joe Thornton by Lombardi's successor Doug Wilson.
Stuart was projected as a cornerstone defenseman with the Sharks but his short tenure with the Bruins and later the Calgary Flames was uneventful at best and hurt his market value, which explains the short tenure and relatively low salary.
Still, it would be a mistake to write him off. He may not have the temperment to handle the pressure and responsibility of being a team's number one d-man but he does have the skills to be a number two or three man with the right team.
Lombardi is betting that his rebuilding Kings are that team.
I think all of you Kings fans have to give LaBarbera a fair shake. This kid is ready and with the additions Lombardi has put in front of him he should do just fine. I see him beating out Cloutier for the #1 spot. It would be nice to see you all give Lombardi a fair shake as well, but that might be asking too much. BTW - Stuart is a nice fit on this team.
Wow. too bad TKF is on Vacation somewhere is southern Washington. I would LOOOVVE to hear him complain about DL now. I can almost imagine it. I think it would go like this:
"oh great, now we're the L.A. Sharks with a bunch of players past their prime. Way to go Dean!!"
I have thought long and hard about getting in on the kings debates, but I was afraid I would get obsessed. And I may, but none the less: the Kings (Lombardi) have made solid moves. A team is being built for the love of God. Frolov, Kopitar, Cam’s, Visbo, Johnson, O’Sullivan... Add in Nagy & Stuart. And the we will be able to afford our key players in the future. I would have become a Ducks fan if we paid that much for Gomez! Ugh. We filled in some holes. Wait for another year when we have this built and then add a Briere. (You know, like when the Sharks added Thornton.)
See you start with young players, let them mature, start winning, then you make an impact splash, because then everyone will want to come here again. Then we can have our pick of who we want. This is what TKF would love. Of course he would still find a way to rip DL.
Just need Labarbra to step up and this team will be good. Then maybe we could get a real goalie, or have one of our goalies from the minors came up and prove himself. I am not sold on Labarbara, he played good for 10 games then nothing. Once going to happen when he gets real pressure on him. God I say this, but maybe Cloutier comes out of his funk. I doubt it, but then we could trade him.
In all honesty, I'm verry happy the flames didn't resign him. He was "one of the most saught after dmen in the game" at the trade deadline, and we got him a couple of days before and surprised everyone. Thing is, he surprised us....he sucked. I wasn't happy with him at either end of the ice, I think he played one good game for us down the stretch.
In all honesty, I hope he shines in LALA land. That team has had nothing but bad luck in the past, and they are due. Hope to see you in the confrence finals.
I kinda like this one. They can see if he bounces back from Boston. As my friend, who is a Kings fanatic, pointed out -it gives them time to see where he is after this season when Blake's contract expires. The blue line looks damn good to me. Whether you agree with it or predict disaster, I think they made their team better...much better. Give them time to gel though.
This signing and the ones from yesterday have definitely bolstered and improved the team. They are an odd mix of guys and all we can hope for is that Lombardi and Marc Crawford see some kind of potential chemistry in signing these "Plan B" guys.
Jason Labarbera had a phenomenal season in the minors so I think he deserves the shot of being #1. He's got the size and the aggressiveness which was something that Garon lacked. (with all do respect)
As far as DL signing ex or current shark players? Guess what Burkey is doing over there in Anaheim? Loading up on Canucks.
NOOOOOOOOOOOO I so wanted my Oilers to lock him up for a few years. Now all that's really left is Souray, and I think he'd get booed out of town for his sloppy defensive play like Marc andre-b did. Here's to hope for Edmontons youngers.... again.
OFF that was hilarious, I'm still laughing. But seriously the Sharks are in trouble if they want a defenseman who can actually play defense well. Souray is the biggest name out there and he was
-28 last season, and the Sharks have plenty of offense already. The rest of the defenseman out there are probably young guys no one has heard of or older guys past their prime. The Sharks made a BIG mistake letting Hannan go.
This Flames fan totally agrees. Based on his play over the past couple of years, Stuart is a decent but unspectacular defenseman who tends to mail more than a few games. He's going to L.A. because it's comfortable -- his wife wants him to, the weather's warm, he'll be able to fly under the radar in a big non-hockey town and he likes Lombardi. The Flames know that players who are looking for comfort often aren't prepared to dig deep and give that extra effort when it counts, so Stuart was a lousy fit as a Flame. Aucoin (here's hoping he stays healthy) and Sarich (great addition!) are much better fits.
Of all the other signings I'm liking this one best. Don't get me wrong, Nagy and Handzus should be good contibutors and if Calder can get even 50 points it will be a bonus. Hopefully Labs will get a real good look this time.
Stuart is another guy who needs to play well under this contract in order to line himself up for the next one, so I think the money is right in line. If it's a bust, it's a relatively small one, and it's not likely to be a total bust anyway. Perhaps just not so fantastic. As for the goaltending, they have no choice but to give Labarbera a shot, right? I mean Cloutier impressed no one when he actually played, which was very little. I certainly hope he is the goalie he's been in the minors, because LA will need the help if Dan The Sieve is manning the net every night.
I've just received the following message from True_Kings_Fan from his secret vacation base in southern Washington:
Why'd Lombardi do this? We didn't need another d-man after signing Preissing, especially one with an offensive upside. And they got him for only for one year? Stuart can walk at the end of the year and we get nothing? What a waste of effort!
And how could Lombardi let Garon slip away? Garon was the only guy left on the team who came to the season ticket holder breakfasts! Is Stuart going to do that? Stuart probably doesn't even eat breakfast, and it's only the most important meal of the day for crying outloud.
In the last two days, Lombardi has brought in a bunch of guys who are going to take valuable minutes away from the rookies and career minor leaguers that make up the Kings roster. What a joke! And you know Lombardi's in Hawaii, so think of the long distance bill he's raking up! Like the Kings have money to burn! Me and the rest of the season ticket holders in Section 313 aren't going to take this any more, I tell you!
FIRE LOMBARDI!
So, sounds like he's having a nice, restful vacation...
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on July 4th at 12:31 AM.
the kings are looking very decent this year, there D is pretty deep. and their young (and inexpensive) forwards impressed me last year, especially Dustin Brown. Love his game! LA's only weakness is in net.
Glad I could give you a morning smile! I hope when TKF reads it he realizes it was written with love and respect. These boards wouldn't be quite as much fun without him.
And of the many advantages that Los Angeles has over Edmonton (which TKF loves to enumerate), it appears he can add one more: whenever LA signs a free-agent, the player doesn't sign with the Washington Capitals 18 hours later!
Last edited by Matt_McCallum on July 4th at 8:40 AM.
It also had actual paragraphs instead of that free-form type of haiku we've all grown to know and love. The ransom note style. That said, you've gotta love TKF's passion. I give him credit for caring that much. Although a mild sedative during his relaxing sojourn might not be a bad idea.
I believe that this is why the Kings are not successfull. Every year they make a big splash in the free agency. Then the following year, half the players they sign are gone. There's no chemistry to this team.
However, they did sign some good free agents this year. We'll just have to wait and see.
I'm a Rangers fan, and I been reading some people hating on the Kings free agency pick ups..I think they did a good job. Handzus is a good player and if he stays healthy..will do good things for the Kings. Nagy has all the talent in the world, maybe playing with his Slovak friends...he will be more relaxed and it will show. Stuart and Priessing are great pick ups.
Ducksrule 07 - Seriously? I am not going to get into that statement to deep, but if you think Handzus is a "name," your as lame as your Disney Ducks. No matter what they do, they will have always have the most ignorant fans on the face of the earth. Flying V your comments else where Goldberg.
Most ignorant fans? I'd put Vancouver up there. They're the worst for being bandwagon jumpers. Heh I can remember when they trades for Naslund. The dudes on the radio were like "why do we need this wimp? Why should the people of this city support it's hockey team when the fans know the team isn't going anywhere?"
A few nights later Naslund scored on a beautiful backhand spin-o-ramma. One of my favourite goals of all time.
There's a difference between being an igorant fan and being someone who just watches from time to time. Ignorant fans are the people who meet on the hockeysfuture.com boards and tell us how Edmonton needs to trade Hemsky and Rolson to Florida for Oliken and Boymeister(sp?).
I'm new to these posts but not to the team. I was very skeptical when the free-agency opened and no Drury/Briere/Smyth/Souray, etc...Now that the dust is settling I'm much more comfortable with the roster being laid out in front of us. If Handzus/Nagy click we'll have some nice offensive chemistry to go with the already formidable play of Kopitar/Frolov/Camalleri. The D is shoring up and the addition of Stuart and Preissing is more than acceptable. Johnson & Lub can use their experience and with Blake as mentor much will be gained for the coming seasons. Cloutier is not really our concern. He either steps up or he doesn't play. LaBarbera is a very good goaltender. Prior to his 2-3 week departure for "personal reasons" he was as solid as any goaltender in the league. The tandem of LaBarbera/Garon was nice enough, but the overall defensive play of the team at the time left much to be desired. LaBarbera could easily become a Bryzgalov/Fernandez/Emery and then we'd all be saying "What a phenomenon!" LOL Remember, Giguere slipped for a season after his first finals and now he stands tall again. (And heck...let DC be the backup!) Let's give this team the benefit of optimism and I believe we're serious contenders within 2-3 yrs. Love the posts and look forward reading all. (ps What's the word on Souray, anyway? And why's he not signed yet?)
Hey ducksrule07. Did you become a Calgary Ducks fan this year, or are you one of those fair weather fans that stayed away in droves from the pond in previous year? For whatever complaining Kings fans are doing the fact remains even in the lean years, Kings fans fill the stands almost every game.
I'm Lyle Richardson, also known as Spector, Foxsports.com 's "Prince of Pucks".,which is based on the fact I live in Prince Edward Island, Canada and I couldn't think of a better byline. I've been an NHL hockey commentator since 1998 on my website, Spector's Hockey, and I'm a contributing writer for Foxsports.com , The Hockey News and Eishockey News. I'm also a regular on The Faceoff Hockey Show and a frequent guest on "The Late Crew" on The Team 1200 Ottawa.
