Before we get to Dean Lombardi’s thoughts on this week’s draft, a couple quick notes… Tonight is the NHL Awards ceremony, and Kings captain Dustin Brown is a finalist for the NHL Foundation Player Award, which “recognizes an NHL player who applies the core values of hockey – commitment, perseverance and teamwork – to enrich the lives of people in his community.” The awards ceremony will be televised on Versus starting at 4 p.m. Pacific time. Also, the full regular-season schedule for 2011-12 is scheduled to be released tomorrow. And, of course, the NHL Draft will be held Friday and Saturday. For some thoughts on that, here’s Dean Lombardi…
—–
Question: The first couple years you were here, it was all about the draft, getting that young talent. Last year you only make five picks and this year you go in with only six picks, and without a first-round pick. Is that how you intended it, in terms of the natural progression of building the team?
LOMBARDI: “That’s the choice you make. This is the first year, obviously, that we’re down a pick (in the first round). Last year, that was a conscious decision to move up (n the first round). There’s a difference between how many (picks) you have going in and how many (players) you pick. What happens is, when you don’t have those picks, you’re kind of limited in your ability to move, unless you want to start moving picks from next year, which I will not be inclined to do. But this is predictable, right? And remember, a lot of those picks we got in the early years came from the trade deadline, when we were trading veterans for picks. That, obviously, has been moved along in the last two years. At the trade deadline, we were looking for players, not looking to add for the future. So that’s pretty much predictable, when you’re on the plan we’ve been on.”
Question: Of course, at any point someone could make you an irresistible offer, but at this point, are you actively looking to get back in the first round?
LOMBARDI: “I’d look to get back in, but I wouldn’t be overzealous about it. Fortunately, I don’t think this is considered a prime draft, which was one of the considerations we gave when we traded the pick (for Dustin Penner). The players that would be enticing to teams, because they’re further along in their development and would look to trade their pick, we would just as soon keep those players in our system. That’s just based on my discussions (with other GMs).”
“There’s a difference between how many (picks) you have going in and how many (players) you pick.”
I lost my Lomabrdi-to-English dictionary, does anyone know what this means?
[Reply]
quisp Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 10:45 am
@Player-X,
It means that he frrequently packages picks to move up, as he did to pick Toffoli and Forbort. And, possibly, Kitsyn, if memory serves.
[Reply]
Bluecoconuts Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 11:28 am
@quisp, Which could end up being genius in a few years. I think after Toffoli settles into the NHL, after a few years, he’s going to develop into a 40 or 50 goal scorer. He just finds a way.
[Reply]
number 6 Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 12:14 pm
@quisp
Believe you’re correct wrt Kitsyn. There was a little article about that pick specifically in THN Future Watch.
[Reply]
dMan Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 10:53 am
@Player-X, you may enter the draft with X number of picks, but you may make deals during the draft which change your position (up or down) and therefore the final number of players you actually do pick may not be the same as the number of picks you initially had.
[Reply]
DBking Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 10:54 am
@Player-X, It means…ummmm…
[Reply]
Dominick Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 1:39 pm
@DBking,
That was the best explenation so far. I almost wanted to go with….duuuuhhh!…
[Reply]
DesertKing Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 1:50 pm
@Dominick,
To quote Steve Martin: “May I mamu dogface to the banana patch?” When DL is done being a GM, I see a great career for him in politics.
or what Quisp said!
[Reply]
He says a lot or words, but does not actually say anything…..
[Reply]
Bob Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 11:05 am
That should read…. He says a lot OF words….
[Reply]
SDGolfer Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 2:02 pm
@Bob, Really,
I love reading and listening to DL, he is very smart. Seems like he lives and breathes Kings hockey.
[Reply]
Dominick Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 6:25 pm
@SDGolfer, He’d better! because he’s at the helm of making my hockey dreams coming true.
[Reply]
SDGolfer Reply:
June 22nd, 2011 at 7:27 pm
@Dominick, Keep the faith buddy!
basically said, he wont trade into the first round unless he is blown away. he doesnt love this draft so he wont mortgage future picks to get into the first round. I imagine this to be a heavy offensive player selected by our gm unless someone falls that you just cant resist. Granted, with no goalies left in juniors after this year, we might take a late round goalie also….who knows…just find offfensive skill where ever you can DL
[Reply]
Keep up the good work Rich! I love hearing all this Kings news during the offseason!
[Reply]
Rich, in The Hockey News a couple of weeks ago, writer Ken Campbell indicated that Bettman will soon turn his attention to the situation in LA amid “rumors that Kings majority owner Philip Anschutz wants to sell.” Do you know anything more about this? I know from time to time we hear that AEG may want out, but if Bettman is now getting involved, has there been a change in urgency?
[Reply]
well we all know DL going to pick out good players been doing that since he got here…I hope Brown wins the award be nice to have the Kings Captain win the award
[Reply]
Hi Rich, any news on the Doughty contract? I’m seeing some twitter rumors of a deal with a 5- 5.5 annual cap hit…sources look dodgie though
[Reply]
“I don’t think this is considered a prime draft.”
It wasn’t until just this week that I heard anything about this draft being a strong one. Then on NHL.com this article comes out, comparing the depth of this draft to the excellent 2003 vintage:
http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=566324
Personally, I think it’s just the NHL hyping their event. I hope it is deep. And I hope Mr. Lombardi can get some good value for his picks. But I thought it was a bit weird to see him say that and then see others say differently. As he values depth over star-power. Maybe when he says “prime”, he means no real stars, so why pick in the top-15? Who knows. So cryptic, that guy!
[Reply]
Rich, is there any chance we could see an interview with Doughty sometime soon? I’m loving these Lombardi segments, but I’d be eager to hear from him next.
[Reply]
Will Timbo allow Deano to take Tambo to dinner tonight? All on PhilA’s $$$…
gKg!
[Reply]
The asking price for Carter: http://www.thefourthperiod.com/news/phi110615.html
Essentially young talent, picks and some minor league love.
I’ve said it would cost us DD, maybe not. I mean, I’d be willing to move DD (as I’ve stated so many times), but perhaps Simmonds, Voyonov and a pick? Seems like too little though, right?
[Reply]
DL certainly doesn’t do the name Lombardi justice.
Vince turned a horrible Green Bay team around in 1 season.
DL doubters have closed the case.
[Reply]
“I don’t think this is considered a prime draft, which was one of the considerations we gave when we traded the pick (for Dustin Penner).”
I guess the opinion “prime draft” and lack of hype of this draft year, makes dismisal pretty logicla or easy, but it surprises me.
I’m no expert, but Lombardi has always done things his way, right or wrong. I think he along with his scouting staff have done a great job in recent years, but hearing him say this draft is not as deep, or filled with players who might not be household names in Canada and Europe well I guess only time will tell.
Not having a pick at #19 in the 1st round probably had a lot to do with why Penner was acquired, so trading the pick for a player who if motivated could help the Kings now, not a few years from now, unless somehow Penner is still here after this next season.
I will be interested to see how this draft class actually pans out, for the amount of hype in past drafts has not exactly produced a lot of superstars, but maybe still decent NHL players.
[Reply]