Oscar Moller will stay with the Kings
KINGS FYI
The 19-year-old center has impressed GM Dean Lombardi in his first nine games.
The Kings' Oscar Moller went through practice as usual Friday morning, and then learned it would not be his last as an NHL player this season.
Moller, it was decided, would remain with the Kings after General Manager Dean Lombardi met with the team's coaching staff to discuss the 19-year-old Swedish center.
NHL teams have nine games to decide whether to keep a player with juniors eligibility or return him to his team.
Moller's play through nine games made it clear to team officials that his place was in Los Angeles and not Chilliwack of the Western Hockey League. He has two goals and four points this season.
"The No. 1 thing is the way he has played," Lombardi said. "He was certainly making it difficult, and that's a good thing, I guess. The other thing about him, when you do this to a young player, it's not only if he can play at this level, it's his maturity, whether we think he will get complacent. That has never been a problem with Oscar."
Moller can still be returned to Chilliwack, but the Kings would have to count his contract for this season. He cannot be sent to minor league Manchester (N.H.). That was one of the things that Lombardi had to consider.
"Mostly it's an issue of asset balancing," Lombardi said. "It makes free agency come a year sooner. It makes his second contract come a year sooner in an age when second contracts are significant.
"But his play said that he deserves to be here. The one thing about him is his heart and level of commitment. That's always been his staple."
Moller will still have to demonstrate that he can endure the physical part of the game while centering the Kings' second line. But he was one of the team's best players in a 4-0 loss to Vancouver on Thursday. Moller had five shots on goal and hit the post with another try.
Mood swings
Goaltender Jason LaBarbera's pendulum continues to swing wildly. He has started nine consecutive games, the longest streak by a Kings goaltender since Felix Potvin in 2001-02, but he has struggled with consistency.
"The thing is, I don't think I was playing bad," LaBarbera said before the loss to Vancouver. "It was just a couple games where stuff happens. You just have to bounce back from that. I was doing good things. There were a couple of bad breaks and then things happened. I'm not too worried about it."
Foster is a Times staff writer.
Chris.foster@latimes.com
