Lombardi `not optimistic’ on Frolov

Dean Lombardi did an interview this morning with a friend of mine, Dustin Nielson, who does the morning show for 1260-AM in Edmonton. Some of the interview covered some familiar ground, but at one point Lombardi was asked about the future of Alexander Frolov, and whether he saw Frolov returning to the Kings or whether it was time to move on. Here’s Lombardi’s answer, followed by a link to the entire interview. Incidentally, I’ll be doing my lengthy interview with Lombardi tomorrow afternoon…

LOMBARDI: “When you talk about building today, it’s certainly different from prior to the lockout. You really get tied in with, `Do you like the player?’ Yes, but do you like him at `X’ price? Because you now have to get the right price, if you’re going to be able to keep your core together. So would we like to keep him? Yes. But if the price is prohibitive, and maybe would prevent us from filling other holes and making sure we keep Doughty and Johnson and all these kids coming through, then you have to walk away. I think you’re probably right on Fro. He’s a good player. I guess at times, like you say, you think he’s capable of more, but he’s still a productive player. But you still now have to really be astute in how you attach a price tag to that, or you’re going to get yourself in trouble down the road, and then all this building we’ve done makes no sense if we can’t keep these young players that have come through our system. So I’m not too optimistic, given what he’s looking for. The other thing we’re confronting here, don’t forget, is the KHL, and they’re offering an awful lot of money, tax-free. It’s almost like the WHL days, where the difference in dollars is huge. It’s not like you can accuse the player and say, `Well, he just wants to take the easy way.’ No. We’re talking significant dollars, in terms of the difference. I talked to him at the end of the year, and I said to myself, `This is no different than when Bobby Hull left.’ I’m sure he wanted to stay in the NHL, but when the money is that much different, you can’t blame him. So you’re also confronting this with Fro, so we’ll see but we’re going to keep our options open.”

Lombardi on Team 1260