Year-In-Review – 20 – Ladislav Nagy & Brady Murray

When one thinks about free agent signing busts, the name Ladislav Nagy should come first. He was signed for just one year at $3.75 million; he played in 38 games tallying 9 goals, 17 assists for 26 points. He started off the year within the pool of free agents that Lombardi signed but ended the year with the strangest neck injury. Apparently there’s always been this mild sort of hype surrounding Nagy in that he had potential, which he could never quite grasp year after year. But the dude is 29 now, if he hasn’t achieved said potential by now, I don’t see him doing it when he’s in his 30s. So he came into the season with the aforementioned hype and inconsistently delivered while in the lineup. The only game I can really remember him being in was the New Year’s game where the Kings blew out the Blackhawks 9-2. Nagy tallied 5 points and was a stud; but that was it.

Aww, Lubo's in the background!

His season was cut short due to his mysterious neck injury that seemed to come out of nowhere. I’m not really sure what to make of it because there was no real explanation for it. What I did know was that it occurred about a month or so before the trade deadline passed so that he couldn’t be traded. I’m not sure what exactly his appeal would have been to other teams had he not been on IR, so I can only speculate on what "could have been." His presence in the latter half of the season was basically nil, so I’m fine with him slipping out of LA unannounced.

Brady Murray made an even shorter appearance with the Kings this year than did Nagy. He played in 4 games (1 goal) at the beginning of the season with the highlight being when they played the St. Louis Blues and he "faced" his father, Andy Murray. I have hardly anything to say about this kid except that he’s been a part of the Kings organization for a long time. I’m not sure what his projection is slated to be but I do know that he won’t be on the big club’s roster next year.

Wasn't that nice of the photographer to get both in one shot.... *yawn*