Lombardi, Kings prepare for draft

And, just like that, the NHL Draft is almost here. The first round of the draft takes place Friday in Pittsburgh, only 11 days after the Kings celebrated their Stanley Cup Finals win. Dean Lombardi and his staff will fly to Pittsburgh tomorrow for final preparations in this most unusual of years. In recent years, Lombardi and the scouting staff would have spent the bulk of their time in the past few weeks huddled around a conference-room table, watching video and moving names around a master list of prospects. Clearly, things have been a little different in the last few weeks. To be certain, there aren’t any complaints from the Kings’ camp. The Kings are scheduled to pick at No. 30, but that is there only pick among the first 120 selections. Today, Lombardi talked about preparing for the draft within the whirlwind of the playoff run…

Question: With everything that was going on with the playoff run, did you try to keep things as normal as possible with draft preparations?

LOMBARDI: “Actually, in a way the scouts didn’t miss a beat. It was important for them to be here (for the Finals), so they were able to be together probably more than for just the meetings we usually have. So they were able to chip away at it. Obviously it’s a little hard, because they get jacked up too, but they went pretty hard there. They started coming in for the first and second rounds, and obviously through it. I don’t think we missed a beat in terms of putting in the necessary time. They guys worked their butts off and, like I said, because they were here for the playoffs, they were able to chip away at more than they usually would.”

Question: And it’s an unusual year anyway, with you only having one pick in the first three rounds…

LOMBARDI: “I don’t want to make a habit of that but, you know, people always said, `He’s in love with his draft picks.’ Well, at the time, we were, but sometimes you have to move them to improve the team. Obviously if you’re going to have a down year with (number of) picks, this is probably the one, but in no circumstances do we want to make a habit of this. But it isn’t like we used them for old players. That’s the other consolation. If they’re going into a Richards deal and a Carter deal, you’re still dealing with guys that are 26, 27 years old. Again, that said, I don’t want to make a habit of this.”