If true, the Kings have themselves a serious defense corps.

Posted by SYF from the Flood on 08/25/10 at 04:40 PM ET

Yes, they certainly do.

I’m happy for Mr. Mitchell, and as a fan of an Eastern team, I’m happy the Capitals didn’t get him.

Posted by NathanBC on 08/25/10 at 05:00 PM ET

“...a two-year contract worth $3.5 million per year.”

No way could the Wings sign him for that amount.

Posted by SYF from the Flood on 08/25/10 at 05:14 PM ET

No way could the Wings sign him for that amount.

And he doesn’t have to leave the West Coast ...

All in all a good deal for Mitchell, hope he does well and gets to enjoy hockey without any post-concussion symptoms.

Posted by some kid on 08/25/10 at 05:18 PM ET

seriously… with the ridiculous fawning that went on here over Willie Mitchell by Wings fans, I hope the reality of the situation is now clear to all. I don’t even think the Wings would have given the guy $2mil let alone $3.5mil… and while he’s totally effective and good at what he does, I’d take Brad Stuart over him ANY day at that price. He was always a fantasy 5/6 d-man. This signing shows that it was never even an option… with or without Mike Modano. End of story.

Posted by perfection from LaLaLand on 08/25/10 at 05:32 PM ET

Kings definetlly decided to throw money at someone,if not Kovalchuk then Mitchell,
3.5mill,crazy

Posted by edillac from isolation on 08/25/10 at 05:44 PM ET

This is terrible. I was actually surprised that LA had not made any notable signings this offseason. LA is a good team, any additions with a player like Mitchell will make them better. A least they didnt get Kovalchuk, right?

Sending some of talented free agents to the east would have been great. By the way, I dont think Mitchel listed the Kings as one of the teams he was interested in, did he? Remember that article about a month ago?

Posted by pjwalny from Not Detroit, evidently?? on 08/25/10 at 05:46 PM ET

edillac has it the closest—this is the sign that the Kings are done messing around with Kovalchuk so they probably overspent just so they got SOMEONE, anyone…

That said, things just suddenly got serious out in California…

This also makes the Michalek signing look even stupider.

Posted by Primis on 08/25/10 at 08:44 PM ET

Every few years it looks like the Kings are on track to do things right, then they throw pointless money at a Cloutier or a Mitchell.

Posted by landsharkhockey on 08/26/10 at 10:01 AM ET

This also makes the Michalek signing look even stupider.

How do you make this leap of faith?  There’s a 500k difference between the contracts.

Posted by pens fan in baltimore on 08/26/10 at 11:05 AM ET