Rob Blake Deadline Availability – Key Points, Notes & Quotes

Full link to General Manager Rob Blake’s availability is above, for those interested in watching the full 20 minutes, unedited.

For those looking for the CliffNotes, breaking down below what I felt were the most important tidbits from the 20 minutes Blake spoke for earlier this afternoon.

– First things first, Blake’s assessment of the team’s performance to date.

On the positive side, he highlighted the team’s defensive play, the last four games aside, along with the number of chances against being low and the “progression of the young kids.” On the negative side, he spoke about the offense and the power play “need to be much better.”

All in all, Blake’s assessment is generally what we’ve all seen. The Kings are defensively sound and have been almost all season, minus the last few games. Goals do not come easily for this group with the power play being a big factor in that.

Of late, while he is disappointed in recent results, he also isn’t overreacting to five games versus the previous 50. Though he also knows the Kings have to change things soon.

“There’s a 50 game sample that we’re looking at, not just three or four, but we don’t have time to rest. We have St. Louis tomorrow and then Vegas, we’re right back into it. The level of frustration, I think, with Jim and I with our [recent] play was more on the defensive end and some of the mistakes that we weren’t seeing in those 50 games that we need to get back to.”

– If there’s one thing clear from today, it’s that the Kings were involved in “a lot of conversations, specifically around the offensive side.”

Blake said that the Kings were willing to part with draft capital in order to add an offensive player, particularly a winger who could play on the power play, in order to upgrade in that area. The Kings were not willing to move a young roster player to acquire a rental option, preferring to deal only draft capital in those situations, with Blake adding specifically that defenseman Brandt Clarke was “never” available in a trade today.

Ultimately, the Kings wound up acquiring only forward Andrei Kuzmenko in exchange for a third-round pick, adding a seventh-round selection in the process. It certainly sounded as if the Kings were in on some of the bigger fishes who either got traded or ultimately did not.

“The focus with the group itself was to add, specifically in that box, that area of some type of offense that could add on the power play,” Blake said. “We looked at a lot of different options, had a lot of different conversations, went down different roads that didn’t come in in the end, some in our control, some out of our control.”

To me, the last part says that situations within the Kings’ control meant that the Kings could have made a different move but chose not to pay the price that it would have taken. Others outside of their control speaks more to players either got traded elsewhere or who were ultimately not made available, despite their names being out there. Whether or not you agree with paying or not paying the price, that’s up to you. But it was clear to me the Kings weren’t going to sacrifice young players under team control for win-now options without term.

– On Clarke’s season and usage as of late, here’s what Blake said today.

“I think he got off to a real good start. The season gets longer, the matchups get difficult and with Drew going out early, it put a lot of emphasis on some of the young D playing a little ahead of where we had them. [His usage] has come down. I expect him in the games down this stretch here, this is the important time for him and to get back on that little bit of defensive structure that we need. You’ll see the pairs tomorrow kind of go more favorable to where we were early in the year, with Edmundson, I think he does a good job with with Brandt in that aspect. We knew there was going to be some ups and downs this season.”

Expecting both Clarke and Jordan Spence in the lineup tomorrow, with the alignment expected to mirror what was forecasted prior to Doughty’s injury in September. Clarke should skate with Joel Edmundson while Spence should play with Vladislav Gavrikov and Mikey Anderson will play with Doughty. Unsure if that means 12/6 or 11/7 with Jacob Moverare as the seventh defenseman. I’m expecting the former, but we’ll see. Wouldn’t be surprised to see both looks at times over the final 22 games of the season, with Clarke expected to feature in a prominent role.

– On Kuzmenko, Blake pointed specifically to his offensive abilities and his power-play production as what the Kings targeted in acquiring him. As noted above, it was clear he was not the only player the team looked at but I do think he presented a good value addition on a day that saw a lot of young NHL’ers, top prospects and high draft selections change teams in other trades.

Blake acknowledged consistency issues in the past with Kuzmenko, both season-to-season and within seasons, noting it’s an area Jim Hiller will have to work with him as the team’s coach. That comes down to his individual play, plus finding the right fit for him within the lineup, especially on a team that likes to mix and match up front.

“That’s the risk and reward with the acquisition cost, but his ability to score in those situations, specifically the offensive situations, is where he would benefit with our team.”

The Kings are hoping to get Kuzmenko to Los Angeles tonight, get him to the practice rink tomorrow and Crypto.com Arena in the afternoon, with the hope that he could play that night against St. Louis.

– With defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, here’s what Blake had to say with regards to his impending unrestricted free agency.

“We’re in the midst of a negotiation with him. He changed agents a week ago, there will be some time to play that out, but definitely that has been the plan all along, on both sides, and we’re confident that something will get done. There was a lot going on the last three or four days. We didn’t feel, I think right from day one, that today was a pressure point in that aspect. So, we’ll continue those talks with him.”

Blake added that the goal as it pertains to Gavrikov is a long-term extension and he believes that is the case for both parties.

Prior to Gavrikov changing agencies, Blake said there was not a ton of negotiation regarding a new extension but he reiterated that today was not a pressure point for him in getting a deal done, meaning that he did not feel as if he would look to move Gavrikov should the extension not be done by the deadline.

“Both of us are on the same page and we want to work together to get something done.”

– Couple of logistical discussions as well.

Blake said that at the GM meetings, one item on the agenda was discussion the impact of state tax around the NHL. We saw it with Mikko Rantanen just today, with teams like Dallas holding an advantage in that area. He called it a “CBA issue” and something that was more just discussed than something he felt there was a quick resolution to. It’s not just an NHL issue and teams in other salary cap leagues face a similar situation. He added it’s something that could be addressed in upcoming negotiations but wasn’t sure exactly what that might look like.

He also shared that the Kings have pursued contracts similar to the deal that Frank Vatrano signed in Anaheim, where the player deferred a portion of his salary down the road to retirement years. In doing so, Vatrano’s salary-cap hit is lower than his total dollars paid, as per the current CBA.

“We’ve actually talked to agents about those contracts, those different concepts, to see if that’s a way to alleviate some of those issues. I think it’s player by player based, depending on where they are in their career. I do think it’s something you talk about but we haven’t had a lot of traction with it, no matter which case.”

– With regards to his own contract status, Blake confirmed that he is in the final year of his contract. He said that he and Team President Luc Robitaille are “on the same page” with regards to expectations and that his status would be reviewed at the end of the season.

“We’ve got to get in the playoffs and we’ve got to start winning.”

He said he has not been given any specific mandate as far as a number of rounds won. When asked about specifically getting out of the first round “we’ll start with getting into the playoffs and getting out of the first round,” without adding that he has been given anything direct in that area, or is simply getting out of the first round the goal. But if the goal was to win two rounds, you’ve got to win one round first.

Think that’s all for today, but Blake touched on other topics which are all in the above video.

Will have some additional information in tomorrow’s game preview as the Kings look to solve the St. Louis Blues after losing twice over the past six days.