Lombardi, on the draft (and other notes)

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…

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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).”

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