Lombardi, on trade’s impact; Blake on how it came together

I recently spoke with Kings President / General Manager Dean Lombardi and Assistant General Manager Rob Blake about how the trade for Milan Lucic came together, and learned that this trade could very well signal the end of the Kings’ pursuit of impending free agents.

Dean Lombardi, on how the trade impacts retaining free agents:
I think as a practical matter, we’re pretty much where we’re at right now. Again, this was a major move for us. We gave up a lot, and also you gave up your other options to make this all work. We’ve got space for injuries, and we have enough space where we’re not up against it, but it certainly doesn’t allow us to do anything else.

As for the formation of the trade, it came together fairly quickly.

Rob Blake, on how the trade was finalized:
It kind of started last night, there was some talk and some different things, but I think any time you can acquire a guy of his caliber and his stature amongst power forwards in the league, it’s going to boost everybody’s excitement level, and the players, them too. We’re looking for good things here.

Blake, on how he sees Lucic fitting in:
I think on the power side of things, obviously, we had him as one of the top guys in the league, I think he’ll add to that. It kind of fits the way Dean has built this team, I think he fits, I think his style fits and everything, so like I said, we’re looking forward to it, we’re excited and we know he is too.

Blake, on if the Kings are looking to get back into the first round:
It’s never finalized, but I would say it would be a quiet night here, just kind of sit around and watch what happens.

Blake, on Martin Jones being involved in the trade:
They’ve gone through this situation with Bernier, and they know that sometimes when you wait until the end you get pushed into different positions. There was interest in Jones, obviously, he’s going to be a great goaltender, he’s stepped in at times with us and he’s played very well. There are a few guys like that out there right now, but Jones gathered a lot of talk, and the deal kind of came together through that.

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