Rumor: TFP: Kings Looking to Re-sign Greene and Mitchell Early - What do you think?

[Telos]

http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/lak131023.html

The Los Angeles Kings are hoping to take care of some business in the early part of the regular-season, as GM Dean Lombardi is looking to lock up two players to extensions.
Defensemen Matt Greene and Willie Mitchell are scheduled to become unrestricted free agents next summer, but the Kings want them inked to new contracts.

Greene has a salary cap hit of $2.95 million, while Mitchell's cap hit is $3.5 million.
Both players are expected to receive raises, with the cap expected to climb up around $68 million to $70 million next season.

I don't think Mitchell gets a raise, if anything he needs to take a pay cut, not that he's been particularly bad (though his decision making has been suspect occasionally), but $3.5 million is pretty hard to justify. If Dean re-signs him, I'd expect that he would likely get $3.5 million again for one year, though I wouldn't be happy at all just on the basis of what happened last time.

I think TFP is blowing smoke, obviously not a reliable source and all, but it would be a little mind boggling re-signing him so soon given his history of injuries and not letting the season play out. Though, on the other hand, I can see Lombardi's desperation if he doesn't have big, overpriced, veterans on the blueline at every given moment and what would happen should we risk losing one, which can be argued for either way.

As for Greene, I don't think there is a doubt that he'll be re-signed, and will likely be deserving of a raise as well. Though it is very expensive to pay a bottom pairing defenseman over $3 million dollars, there is no way Dean is letting him go, nor should he really. Greene would likely be on our second pairing if he played the left side.

What do you guys think? Re-sign them? Get rid of them? Lowball them and let it play out? How much do they deserve and how much are they going to actually get? Trade Clifford for Niskanen?

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[Kingspiracy]

I hope they both get re-signed. It would be nice if Green gets another 3yrs but at a lower cap, say 2.5m. I'd give Mitchell another year too if he wants, just again at a lower cap.

 

[Papa Mocha 15]

Yup...resign em provided Mitchell stays healthy through the season,...

 

[Telos]

I hope they both get re-signed. It would be nice if Green gets another 3yrs but at a lower cap, say 2.5m. I'd give Mitchell another year too if he wants, just again at a lower cap.

Yeah, there is not a whole lot we can do, as we have no ready replacements internally and they are not abundant around the league to find. It would be impossible to justify giving Greene more money than Mitchell, a front loaded contract might be a good idea for Greene. As for Mitchell though, I kind of hope we wait the year and see how he does, even at the risk of losing him.

 

[HYORI 1963]

There's no way either of these guys get lower pay. There will be high demand for both Mitchell and Greene.

I'm hoping we can eventually sign Mitchell to a year extension for 3.5M, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him get something closer to 4M.

As for Greene, I think we may have problem signing him due to higher market value, but I do hope we can re-sign him for something close to 3M-3.5M

 

[Herby]

I hope they both get re-signed. It would be nice if Green gets another 3yrs but at a lower cap, say 2.5m. I'd give Mitchell another year too if he wants, just again at a lower cap.

Hard to justify offering Greene only $2.5 when they gave Regehr $3 with the first season under a lower cap.

I think they will both be re-signed, it just depends on the term, it also tells me Lombardi has zero faith in any of the defenders in the system being ready to make the team next year.

How does the UFA pool look for this coming summer?

 

[goosh]

Matt Greene is the most underrated defenseman on this team. Every night, we ***** about how poorly one of Doughty, Voynov, Muzzin, Regehr, or (sometimes) Mitchell played. Never Greene. The guy brings his all every night.

I hope he retires a King.

 

[scramble91]

Matt Greene is the most underrated defenseman on this team. Every night, we ***** about how poorly one of Doughty, Voynov, Muzzin, Regehr, or (sometimes) Mitchell played. Never Greene. The guy brings his all every night.

I hope he retires a King.

Well I would slightly disagree that Greene doesn't have issues. He is a damn good 3rd pairing defender. Outside of that when his minutes increased in the past, he was exposed to a lot more errors.

And a lot of kings fans pointed this out 2 seasons ago.

I would love to resign him but the biggest question would be how much of a raise can the kings afford for his leadership?

I mean if he wants 3.5 -4 mill... Should we pay that for a 3rd pairing dman?

 

[Fat Elvis]

I can see both being resigned. There just isn't anyone Ready in the org to take their spots yet. My guess is that Greene gets signed first and Mitchell in the 2nd half of the season (just to make sure he can stay healthy).

 

[Fishhead]

Im not all that concerned with the cap, we'll have some breathing room next year. Obviously you don't want to toss money around, but similar contracts would be fine.

Re-sign Greene? Hell yea. Willie? Not completely sold yet. He's been looking much better, but I'd like to see he still can bring it close to the level of play he reached before the injury before committing. Desire isn't a problem, it's whether his body can follow his brain's instructions. I would definitely sign Greene first, and take our time with Mitchell.

One thing that has to be taken into consideration with WM is that he may not even be 100% planning to play next year, maybe he is just seeing how things go this season before he decides.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I think they will both be re-signed, it just depends on the term, it also tells me Lombardi has zero faith in any of the defenders in the system being ready to make the team next year.

Who are we talking about? Forbort is 21, first year in the AHL, and signed for 2 more years after this one. Deslauriers is now playing up front. Miller, same situation as Forbort. Then what? Bodnarchuk? No, nobody really jumps out as ready.

How does the UFA pool look for this coming summer?

http://capgeek.com/ufa-finder?position_id=D

Probably about what you would think these days.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

Hard to justify offering Greene only $2.5 when they gave Regehr $3 with the first season under a lower cap.

I think they will both be re-signed, it just depends on the term, it also tells me Lombardi has zero faith in any of the defenders in the system being ready to make the team next year.

How does the UFA pool look for this coming summer?

I'd say in terms of defensemen, it's pretty average.
http://capgeek.com/ufa-finder/?position_id=D

Sure, there are a few big names sprinkled in there like Phaneuf and Markov, but those aren't names the Kings are going to be pursuing.

Looking at guys who play similar roles to Mitchell and Greene, there are guys like Orpik, Phillips, Robidas, Weaver, Hannan, Sarich, etc. I think I'd rather see the team retain Mitchell and Greene than to take a chance on one of those aging defensemen.

My only wish would be a defenseman to replace Regehr, but I don't see how the Kings can rid themselves of that contract unless they opt to use a compliance buyout on him.

EDIT: I was beaten to the punch with the link above.

 

[Reaper45]

Sign Greene and let Mitchell move on.

 

[deeshamrock]

Greene, yes, with a raise.

Mitchell -Love him, but would wait to see how he fares with that knee over a year and a playoff run. And he's turning 37 this spring, that's a factor as well. I'd rather keep WM for another year if the knee holds out and replace RR .

 

[Herby]

Who are we talking about? Forbort is 21, first year in the AHL, and signed for 2 more years after this one

Probably about what you would think these days.

I assume when the Kings traded up and drafted Derek Forbort in June 2010 that high they expected him to atleast be contending for a roster spot in September 2014. I don't think that is the case, and yes he is 21, that is not exactly 18, by 22 years old you would like your former high draft pick to atleast be knocking on the door.

 

[KINGS17]

I'm fine with signing Greene for 2 more years right now, with a raise to say $3M a season.

I would wait and see on Mitchell, and even if he is re-signed it should only be a one year deal. At some point you have to give the kids a shot at making the roster.

Regehr I would buyout in the off season. Doughty needs a partner that is more mobile.

Based on what I have seen so far this season, I am in favor of keeping both Muzzin and Martinez.

 

[Muzzinga]

yep good good. Hopefully not for raises though (Greene for like .5 more would be fine) but we really need to lock up both for at least 1 more year with Mitchell and hopefully 3 ish for Greene

 

[Papa Mocha 15]

I would be fine letting RR go to give Greene a raise because his leadership is pertinent; but we need to let Muffin and AMart develop more before bringing on another underling. If Muffin and AMart were more developed, we could shop RR and then give Greene a raise and seek out another shutdown D Man to replace RR. But if we bring on another D Man too early, it could really expose our back line and then we would be a first round KO in the playoffs. I like Mitchell a lot. The guy is one of my favorites, but again, I'm worried on the injury. If he plays well, we could split RR salary to give Greene a raise and Mitchell a raise too provided Mitchell holds up.

 

[Kingspiracy]

Im not all that concerned with the cap, we'll have some breathing room next year. Obviously you don't want to toss money around, but similar contracts would be fine.

Re-sign Greene? Hell yea. Willie? Not completely sold yet. He's been looking much better, but I'd like to see he still can bring it close to the level of play he reached before the injury before committing. Desire isn't a problem, it's whether his body can follow his brain's instructions. I would definitely sign Greene first, and take our time with Mitchell.

One thing that has to be taken into consideration with WM is that he may not even be 100% planning to play next year, maybe he is just seeing how things go this season before he decides.

How much breathing room do we have? Im not a cap freak but doesn't our dear cap'ns cap almost double soon?

 

[goosh]

Well I would slightly disagree that Greene doesn't have issues. He is a damn good 3rd pairing defender. Outside of that when his minutes increased in the past, he was exposed to a lot more errors.

And a lot of kings fans pointed this out 2 seasons ago.

I would love to resign him but the biggest question would be how much of a raise can the kings afford for his leadership?

I mean if he wants 3.5 -4 mill... Should we pay that for a 3rd pairing dman?

I didn't say Greene doesn't have any issues. He does. (Penalties being one of them.) But he's consistent. You know what you get from him each time he takes the ice.

 

[onlyalad]

I think the Kings could sign Willie to a one year deal with bonuses. Will he take it?

 

[CowMix]

I think the kings should wait a little longer on Mitchell, hes not his former self right now.

 

[KingsFan7824]

I assume when the Kings traded up and drafted Derek Forbort in June 2010 that high they expected him to atleast be contending for a roster spot in September 2014. I don't think that is the case, and yes he is 21, that is not exactly 18, by 22 years old you would like your former high draft pick to atleast be knocking on the door.

We are talking about the NHL draft though. Expectation of the future vs. reality of the present. If Forbort isn't ready yet, then he isn't ready yet. Then again, by this time next year, maybe he's in the lineup every night.

 

[KingKopitar11*]

I dont know about Mitchell. Greene yes, but mitchell is too risky.

 

[Ziggy Stardust]

I think the kings should wait a little longer on Mitchell, hes not his former self right now.

I think he's getting there though. He's been much better of late compared to how he started the season.