Los Angeles Kings Sign Alexei Ponikarovsky
The Los Angeles Kings have announced that they have signed forward Alexei Ponikarovsky, replacing the recently departed Alexander Frolov. Ponikarovsky split his time between the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Pittsburgh Penguins last season.
Alexei Ponikarovsky
Ponikarovsky began his professional career playing in Russia, bouncing between the second Russian league and the Elite League, spending most of his time with the Moscow Dynamo. In his last season in Russia, he played in 19 games with the club.
He was drafted by the Maple Leafs 87th overall in the fourth round of the 1998 National Hockey League entry draft. The Leafs elected to send him to their American Hockey League affiliate, the St. John’s Maple Leafs, where he spent three seasons. In his final season in St. John’s, Ponikarovsky notched 46 points in 63 games, and was called up for the final 13 games of the Maple Leafs season.
The following year, he spent the entire season with the big club, scoring 9 goals and 19 assists for 28 points in 73 games. He had average seasons with the Leafs over the next three years, and it was not until the 2008-09 season that he was able to break-out, scoring 23 goals and 38 assists for 61 points in a full 82-game schedule.
Last season, split between Toronto and Pittsburgh, Ponikarovsky managed 21 goals and 29 assists for 51 points, which was the second best total of his career.
Kings’ Perspective
For Los Angeles, Ponikarovsky is a perfect replacement for Frolov, and helps to fill the void up front, created by losing the Ilya Kovalchuk sweepstakes.
The Kings’ general manager (GM) Dean Lombardi needed to sign another capable forward before the puck drops in October. Ponikarovsky now represents the 11th NHL forward under contract in Los Angeles, meaning the Kings still have to acquire more forwards in order to fill out their line-up.
Ponikarovsky will even out the amount of offence lost after not re-signing Frolov. Frolov scored 51 points last year, and Ponikarovsky 50. This also means however, that Lombardi is not making an upgrade in his forward ranks. Because the forward core looks the same as last year one cannot expect a more offensively aggressive Kings side. In addition, Ponikarovsky will see a great deal of minutes, likely playing on the team’s second line, as well as getting time on the second power play unit, or perhaps even the penalty kill.
Lombardi should be happier with Ponikarovsky, as he was not satisfied with the effort of Frolov for the majority of last season. Although Ponikarovsky tends to go in-and-out, showing up some evenings and not others, he is a consistent 40-50 point getter.
Ponikarovsky’s Perspective
It took some time for the Ukrainian born Ponikarovsky to sign with a club, as many believed his fate was tied to that of Frolov. As the Frolov to New York signing was confirmed, the Kings knew they had to look elsewhere to fill their gaps up front.
Although the details of the deal have not been disclosed, this looks to be a good move for the left-winger. Los Angeles offers him an opportunity to play plenty of minutes, and the possibility of getting back to the postseason. It will be another year of second line and power play duty for Ponikarovsky and he needs to make it count. If he is able to get back to his 61 point output from two years ago, he will be able to find a permanent spot in the Kings organization.
In addition, the Kings still have tons of cap room, and although free agency is all but over, they will have plenty of funds available for next season.
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