Kings Development Camp 2008

“With your past and your future precisely divided
Am I at that moment?”
--Phish

It’s always nice to be reminded from time to time that there’s going to be hope for the Kings. In a summer that has watched the free-agency period start with no reaction whatsoever from our management, the Prospect Camp was a much needed reminder where our future stands. We know that there are guys like Drew Doughty, Colten Teubert, and Thomas Hickey on the horizon for the next few years. But who else is there? You can read as many articles as you want praising the future, but sometimes it helps to see with your own 2 eyes. Here’s what I saw with my own 2 eyes:

Justin Azevedo (Forward): Much smaller than I thought in person. Sneaky, accurate shot, smart player that is good at bringing the defender towards him before making the pass. Best attribute is his hockey sense.

Andrew Campbell (Defenseman): 3rd rounder has some work to do. Looks like a good pick-up for his place in the draft. He reminded me of Davis Drewiske except a little bigger. He should fit in immediately as a 3-4 defenseman in Manchester this year.

Robert Czarnik (Forward): I was incredibly impressed with this kid. Robert has some serious wheels (even if he took a few nose dives into the boards). He has a nice quick shot and is already stronger on his skates that it would initially appear. I’m very excited about this guy.

Mike D’Orazio (Defenseman): Mike was an invitee to the Development Camp. He is on the smaller side, but a very mobile defenseman. In fact, Mike looked better than some of the guys that are actually property of the Kings. Good pass, looks like he’d be the kind of defenseman that would not hesitate to lead the rush.

Drew Doughty (Defenseman): The 2 things that stood out to me were his decisiveness and his intelligence on the ice. It almost looked like things were in slow motion for him. In the exact same “dump and chase” drills that had some of the defensemen flustered, he just looked as though he would cruise back, make a pass, and the drill would be done. He was just BETTER than anyone else in those drills. (And I was looking for flaws in his game). During the prospects game, he controlled the puck and the play at will. From my perspective, he lived up to any bit of hype he’s received.

Dwight King (Forward): Very powerful player. He almost looked like Wayne Simmonds with a better shot. In fact, he has a very good, hard, heavy shot. The difference? His hands aren’t the greatest. Someone at the rink mentioned, “You can teach grit, but not hands.” If they can get a little better, he’d remind me of Glen Murray.

Andrei Loktionov (Forward): Another guy with a high hockey IQ. During the one-on-one drills, he didn’t look very good (but he’d just stepped off of a plane from Russia, so that might have something to do with it). The 3-on-2 drills were much better for him. He had a knack for finding the open area in the high slot. He definitely has a good amount of upside. He had something “different” than all the other forwards. It just looked like he saw the game differently.

Oscar Moller (Forward): Oscar is a very good offensive player who is creative with good instincts. His shot looked alright, but the rest of his game looks polished. He’s probably the most creative guy in camp. Also, he had a great attitude the entire time and looked to be explaining drills/strategy with teammates between drills.

Garrett Roe (Forward): Very, very fast and has a lightning quick release on his wrist shot. I was impressed that someone with his tools would fall to the 7th round. When he went up against Teubert in one-on-one drills, you can tell he has the will. The only problem was that he simply isn’t strong enough yet. Give him a few years in college.

Linden Rowat (Goaltender): Really quick with his feet, not so quick with his hands. He’ll continue to develop in juniors.

Colten Teubert (Defenseman): Colten was an absolute monster. He was already positioning himself to play the body in the drills. Extremely strong and physical, looks like a future SHUT DOWN defenseman. Also looks like he could be future captain material. Demonstrated great leadership qualities and was extremely competitive. He has a lot of potential.

Vjateslav Voinov (Defenseman): His positional play was extremely good. Each and every play coming towards him, he was able to keep the forward to the outside and away from the premium scoring areas (no exceptions). The young Russian needs to develop a little more strength, but I like his potential and intelligence. Shows a lot of effort and grit every time he’s out there.

Alexander Weiss (Forward): The first day I wasn’t impressed at all. The second day he had a few nice tip-in goals and a few good shots. He showed the potential as a finisher and likes to go top shelf on goaltenders.

Geordie Wudrick (Forward): He looks to be in the same mold of Simmonds except for the fact that he’s more agile. He has the same type of body as Simmonds or King, which is to say that he’s a big boy. The difference is that he has better hands than either of them. He was the last guy off the ice; kind of looked like a rink rat.

Jeff Zatkoff (Goaltender): I thought he was the most impressive goaltender in camp NOT named Bernier. Jeff is a big goaltender that seemed mobile from post to post. I thought the goals he gave up were good goals; my fiancé thought they were cheap goals. I guess it’s all up to interpretation.

Marc-Andre Cliché (Forward): A good forechecker, he seemed to be one of those guys that didn’t stand out, but did everything well. Does not have a very hard shot, but he has speed that could make him an asset.

Jonathan Bernier (Goaltender): Very good. He was very solid with great rebound control. I didn’t see anything that made me doubt that he will be in the NHL one day. With the competition at the development camp, it’s hard to tell exactly HOW good he is though.

Vladimir Dravecky (Forward): Not impressive at all. Problems stick handling, couldn’t beat defensemen one-on-one, and the shot didn’t seem like much. I’ve already typed too much.

Davis Drewiske (Defenseman): He just looks mature. Positionally he’s good and not afraid to finish his man. Unfortunately, his hands aren’t as good as his positioning.

Thomas Hickey (Defenseman): Didn’t participate in any of the drills. He had screws taken out of his ankle which should be healed by the beginning of August. He’ll be there at the beginning of training camp. I'm curious to see how much he has progressed since last year.

Bud Holloway (Forward): Looked like he’s one of the best forecheckers at the camp. Consistently was able to dump and take it away from 2 defensemen.

Trevor Lewis (Forward): I was impressed with his overall game. Good play with speed and skill. He reminded me of a combination of Cliché and Moller. He’s a little bigger and better than Cliché and has hands similar to Oscar Moller (but not quite as good or creative). I think he could be an NHL guy in a couple of years.

Alec Martinez (Defenseman): Plays a quiet game for a defenseman. Really depends on his positioning. The one-on-one drills worried me because Simmonds was able to simply run over him on his way to the crease.

David Meckler (Forward): On Saturday, David buried 5 in a row. He has a hard and accurate shot. At one point, even the scouts were laughing and smiling because he was doing so well. David showed potential as a sniper. He must have impressed management because he signed an extension shortly after camp.

Scott Parse (Forward): Not a bad player, but I can’t put my finger on his skills. He just seems like a hard worker. He’s a little on the small side, but I kept noticing him. He just made good plays.

Joe Piskula (Defenseman): He plays really physical, plain and simple. His top end potential looks like a 5-6 physical defenseman.

Jonathan Quick (Goaltender): Good goalie. He was probably the 3rd best of the group behind Bernier and Zatkoff. Jonathan played better than the 3rd positioning would sound; just shows how deep the Kings’ goaltending pipeline is right now.

Wayne Simmonds (Forward): The guy is an absolute physical monster. The only player that could come close to his strength was Teubert. Their one-on-one drills were power personified. He always goes straight to the net (even in drills). He’s not the best stick handler, but it looks like he’ll go to the net for loose change for his entire career. I’m thinking that he and David Meckler will make a nice combo in Manchester this year.

Daniel Taylor (Goaltender): Not all that great. He leaves a lot of rebounds—so many rebounds that it was the first thing I noticed. His stick handling was also noticeably bad. Of the 5 goaltenders, I think he was the least impressive.

Kevin Westgarth (Forward): He looks like he’s trying to take on a leadership role in Manchester this year. His hands are for fighting, not scoring; so drills don’t really do much to show his “skills.”

That’s the wrap for this year’s Development Camp. There was a really good turn out of fans on both Saturday and Sunday. Honestly, you could feel a little bit of hope in the air. Everyone had smiles on their faces and seemed to be looking at the positives of the players. Maybe it’s because their potential is all we have to hold onto? Maybe the warm weather is getting to us…

(All photos courtesy of Michael Zampelli at LetsGoKings.com)

J-Bo's End is Near

"Take a look again at things you have collected
In the end it all ties up so tall
To one big nothing, one big nothing at all"

--Dave Matthews Band

It must suck to be a Florida Panthers fan. When a King fan is the one uttering that statement, you know things are pretty messed up. The cornerstone to the franchise, the future of their blueline, and the face of their franchise (Jay Bouwmeester) just straight out said that he doesn’t want a long-term extension because he doesn’t want to play in Florida. Honestly, I can’t blame the guy.

We always talk about how we want our athletes to care about winning. Here’s a guy who wants his team to show some kind of direction and they don’t seem to be willing to do so. "Bouwmeester would not agree to sign anything longer than a one-year contract, telling the Panthers he wants to see what direction the organization is headed." I have to respect where Bouwmeester is coming from. By signing this 1 year $4.8 million contract, he’s obviously taking a sizable pay cut to have the option to become an unrestricted free agent after the season.

Normally, players want to become free agents so they can have their big cash-grab. By taking the 1 year deal to leave himself some options, he’s already turned down cash. The rumor was that the Panthers GM was offering 6 years at $6 million per year. I know that’s just a rumor, but that sounds like the terms that Florida was looking for. If that is true, then Bouwmeester just left $1.2 million on the table this year, not to mention the $30 million over the 5 following years.

Of course, if he signs a gigantic contract with a team like the Islanders or the Thrashers next year, then all of this is moot. But from everything that keeps coming out of his agent’s mouth, this is not about money. It’s about the future of the Panthers and the type of team that he’ll be playing with for the peak years of his career. After 5 seasons of losing with Florida, I doubt he wants his entire career following the same path. Since the Panthers just traded away their captain, still do not look like they have a visible direction for their franchise, and just hired a new coach, who knows what will happen with the team next year. If they continue to tread water near the bottom of the league, why should he stay? If he was the type of guy that didn’t care about winning and was willing to stay with a losing franchise, he wouldn’t be worth any money anyway.

I’m sorry Panther fans; this move just prolongs the inevitable. Whether he’s traded at the deadline or he leaves as a free agent next July, Jay Bouwmeester’s days’ in South Florida look to be numbered.

To the other 29 NHL teams: the line for his services starts to the left. Take a number.

(Side note: Earthquakes suck.)

Fly West Mr. Murray

“Leadership and learning are indispensible to each other.”
--John F. Kennedy

There’s a difference between a good retread and a bad retread. Usually, the tell-tale sign is when you ask the fans of the coach’s former team and see what they think of him. So what better way to check Terry Murray’s credentials than to go straight to Philly fans? They have a tendency to hate everyone; so if he isn’t completely hated by now, then it should be a pretty good hiring.


The good thing about the Kings and Flyers constantly dealing with one another (apparently because of Lombardi’s relationships within their organization) is that my boy can give me the inside scoop on the people coming our way. Outside of being a Flyers fan, he has pretty good judgment when it comes to hockey. He’s a lot of help specifically with the eastern conference… I swear that dude knows NOTHING about hockey west of Detroit. When I asked him what was up with Terry Murray, his first reaction was a hesitant, “why are you asking?” I told him that it looked like the Kings were going to pick him up as their next head coach, and then I was pleasantly greeted with a list of expletives over the phone. “I was hoping he’d be OUR next coach! Damn it!” I took his anger as a good thing. If he was upset about losing an assistant coach, we might be onto something here. When he finally calmed down, again I asked what he knew about Murray. He broke down both of his tenures in Philadelphia and explained how he’s mostly responsible for the development of their young players. As soon as I heard that, I was sold. I don’t care if he’s been around the block a few times (euphemism for “retread”); if he’s good with young players, sign him up!


So it sounds like he did a good job in both of his stints in the City of Brotherly Love. The first time around, he took the team to the Stanley Cup Finals against the Red Wings. In fact, it was the spotlight of that very series that lead to his premature exit from Philadelphia. After a 6-1 loss in Game 3 of the Finals, he came out in the media and said, “It’s a choking situation.” Actually, a strong argument could be made to support his statement, but that’s beside the point. When you pissed off Eric Lindros AND Bobby Clarke in Philadelphia in the mid-1990s, the facts of any situation were secondary. He was fired after taking his team to the brink of a championship—a position they haven’t seen since.



His second (and most recent) run has been as an assistant coach. From everything I hear, it sounds like John Stevens put him in charge of their penalty kill and to help groom Philly’s younger players. In fact, it sounds like most of the Flyer fans hate John Stevens as their coach. If they were able to go from worst in the league to the Eastern Conference Finals in one year (and they still hate Stevens), there must be a reason. Of course, part of it can be attributed to acquiring a player like Daniel Briere. But I think a bigger part of their success was the development of younger players like Mike Richards, Jeff Carter, Randy Jones, Brandon Coburn, RJ Umberger, and Scott Hartnell. If the younger players were not able to grow into leadership and production roles, there’s no way the Flyers would have been able to right the ship so quickly.


Both of Murray’s other 2 NHL stops produced good/great results. In Washington, he was able to lead the Capitals to the Eastern Finals against the Bruins. Year in, year out, they experienced the most consistency in the history of their franchise. Hell, he was even able to make the Florida Panthers a contender. In 1999-2000, Murray helped guide the Panthers to 43 wins and 98 points (both franchise highs). Anyone that has the coaching ability to lead Florida to within a single victory of the century mark in points should be beyond reproach for the rest of his career. I mean, I think it’s harder to earn 100 points in Florida that it is to actually win the Cup in Detroit. That’s how hard it is to coach in South Beach! Definitely sounds like he was doing a good job.


Here’s the deal: I knew what characteristics I wanted for the next Kings to coach. First and foremost, he must be able to help develop younger players. If the Kings organization (and by extension, the King fans) are going to go through this tough rebuilding phase, then the coach better contribute to the development of the future. The team is depending on it to make them into a perennial contender. The perfect example is this upcoming season: if the Kings finish out of the playoffs, but each and every one of the young players makes significant strides within their development in the NHL, then it would have to be viewed as a productive year. I know people don’t want to hear it (and I don’t want to say it), but rebuilding takes time. There MUST be visible progress shown, but they won’t be playing deep into the playoffs overnight. It’s going to take time. Its Terry Murray’s mandate to make sure that all of the youth in the Kings organization continues to make strides towards filling their potential. If he succeeds in developing the talent, the wins will come.


The next quality I wanted for the head man of the Kings was a man that could preach defense. Under Marc Crawford, the Kings were notorious for having an atrocious defensive system. Even that gives Crawford too much credit, because I don’t think they had ANY system at all. This deficiency was highlighted whenever I watched yet another King goaltender get pulled out of a game because they were getting ZERO support in front of them. If they can get their team-defense figured out (forwards back checking as well as better play from defenseman), it will go a long way to working out the goaltending situation. Terry Murray, a former NHL defenseman, should be able to help on the defensive side of the puck. As long as he’s able to translate his wealth of knowledge into a system the players can fit into, it will be a vast improvement. A good system would play into the development factor as well. Let them grow within a system, see positive results, and gain confidence.


Lastly, the Kings were a complete disaster on the penalty kill last year. In both Florida and Philadelphia, his teams were always very strong on the penalty kill. Considering that Los Angeles was the worst team in the league on the PK last year, any improvement is welcomed. They were so bad, they gave up TWICE as many PP goals on the road than the Sharks did. That goes a long way to explaining why the Sharks were one of the favorites to advance deep into the playoffs, as well as clarifying why the Kings were one of the favorites to land Steven Stamkos.


As surprising as it is to me, Terry Murray may turn out to be the perfect fit for the present Kings team. His strong attributes seem to be tailor-made for the needs in Los Angeles. It’s a shock because usually I’m dead set against any recycled coach that’s already made tours around the league. My thoughts are usually, “If he got the boot from them, why would he be any better for us?” But the more I’ve thought about it, every situation is different. Dave Tippett’s been around for a while and I’d love for that guy to be the Kings’ coach. Andy Murray left the Kings about 2 and a half years ago, and it was just time to part ways. He was a great pick-up for St. Louis, but it was time for him to have a change of scenery. I know he’s a good coach, because I’d be completely open to having him come back after some time has passed. Once a coach’s message starts to fall on deaf ears, then its time for the team to move on to another coach. Plain and simple.


So what exactly is the difference between a good retread and a bad one? I think each situation’s different, but most importantly, the new coach has to be the right fit. Who’s right for the Kings rebuild could be completely different than the man for the Penguins Stanley Cup run. The teams are in different situations and should hire accordingly.


With all of the youth that looks to be on the roster this season, I thought that a young coach (possibly from juniors) would be perfect to help the younger players matured. But after looking into Terry Murray’s past, he looks like the perfect choice. If he’s able to accomplish the same things in Los Angeles as he has at all of his other stops, it should be a successful tenure.

Develop the kids, help the defense, and win. It doesn’t seem that difficult, does it?

NHL Schedule Day!

“In preparing for battle I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable.”

-- Dwight D. Eisenhower

Once in a while I’ll have days that I realize that I need to get a hold of my life. Today is one of those days. The NHL schedule is out, and I’m planning my entire year accordingly!

The first thing I asked was, “When do we play the Sharks?” From a strictly emotional level, Staples Center should be electric. So when I saw that the Kings open with a weekend home-and-home with San Jose, I couldn’t have planned a better way to start the season. There should be a healthy hatred between those two teams no later than mid-October! Not to mention, it’s so early in the season, the Kings won’t be out of it… yet. Follow the two games against the Sharks with a home game against the Ducks and it should be an emotional first week of the season.

The next thing I looked for was the schedule in late November. My fiancé and I are getting married the weekend before Thanksgiving, so I wanted to know which game was going to be on in the background of the wedding pictures. Maybe we can get the photographer to take a picture of us with Joe Sakic or Bob Miller—via high def television, of course!

(This wouldn’t be the first time, there a precedent here. Our housewarming, there is Jim Fox in the background of a few pictures. Since the Kings came back from a 5 goal deficit in the 3rd period, they played an important role in breaking our house in properly.)

That same weekend the Kings head north of the border to do their annual swing through Alberta. I don’t know, but could fate be taking us to beautiful downtown Edmonton and Calgary for a mini-honeymoon? Who needs Maui? In fact, we’ve already talked about it and she’s all over this idea. Reason #851354 we are getting married: Hockey-themed Honeymoons.

With the new layout, I was curious to see if the Kings were traveling to Philadelphia or if the Flyers were coming out west to play in Southern California. My boy Alex and I have been betting on King/Flyer games for 20 years, so it’s always something to look forward to when the schedule comes out.

Well, the gambling gods must want me to kick-up the action in my life, because the Flyers are one of the 3 “wild card” teams from the east. Starting this year, the Kings will play against all 15 Eastern Conference teams (half at home and half on the road). 3 of the 15 will be special wild-card teams that the Kings will play at home and on the road. Looks like I’ll be collecting TWICE from Alex this year. Come to think of it, even if the Kings suck this year (probable), if they can sweep Philadelphia, I think this rebuilding year will be a little more palatable. As long as kicked goals are not allowed, the Kings have a puncher’s chance. Maybe the wager will be something like: “Whoever wins gets Ron Hextall.” (He’s the Kings current Assistant GM and former Flyer goalie). Here is why you’d want him on your team...

So those are some of the first thoughts on the schedule. I love how teams play every team from the opposing conference. Whoever at the league office that had the bright idea to play 8 games against division foes, only to NOT play some of the teams from the opposing conference… well, that person needs to be fired. (Hey, wasn’t it Gary Bettman? Hmmm.) I missed seeing all of the eastern conference teams, and I think it will be better for the sport as a whole. Now all the fans in the east will become more familiar with the players that are out west. There’s even a possibility that next year, each team will play in EVERY CITY at least once. Here’s how the new layout breaks down for this season:

-- 6 games vs. your own division (3 home/3 away) 24 games
-- 4 games vs. your own conference (2 home/2 away) 40 games
-- 1 game vs. the other conference (1 home or away) 15 games
-- 3 wild-card games against the other conference (makes up the home-and-home with another team) 3 games

-- Total Games = 82 games

Another thing that should be interesting is that the Kings’ schedule is so front loaded. Of the first 14 games, 11 of them are at home. They better get off to a good start or its going to be a really long season. The silver lining is that attendance for the two major home stands should be great, because the Kings won’t be mathematically eliminated in October or early November! (They usually wait and make that a Christmas gift). The bad part of such a home-heavy schedule in October is that they have to make up all of those road games at the end of the season. From the beginning of February, the Kings have 23 road games and only 11 home games. In fact, 12 of the last 16 games are away from the friendly confines of Staples Center. If the Kings are in the playoff hunt, well… they better know how to win on the road, or it will get ugly fast.

For anyone that’s looking for roadies, the weekend after Christmas has some potential. The day after Christmas (a Friday night), the Kings welcome the Coyotes. Saturday night, the ‘yotes return the favor and host the back end of the home-and-home in the desert. Since there’s usually some bad blood that spills over between games, it looks like we’ll be traveling to Phoenix for a holiday gift to ourselves.

Another potential trip is to head up to Quebec at the end of January for a game against the Canadiens in Montreal. Take a day off, and then catch a game with the Kings visiting Ottawa. It’s always nice to take in some of the passion from the fans in Canada. It so much more fun to be part of a game where the fans care, as opposed to, say… Anaheim?

The season conveniently ends against the same team it starts again: the Sharks. If by some act of God the Kings are still relevant by April, it’ll be great to see these two teams go at it for the last time of the season. Either they’ll be chasing a playoff spot, or chasing the top spot in the Hedman/Tavares sweepstakes.

All in all, this is just another step in getting through the dog days of summer. The beginning of the season will be here, just not soon enough. The Dodgers are killing me!

Off Topic: Is anyone else sick of Brett Favre news?

This isn't hockey-related news, but its still something from a cold weather region!

Can we please stop with the Brett Farve retirement stuff? Honestly, I'm not saying he's a bad quarterback. Yes, he's one of the best ever (not THE best ever, which seems to be pre-ordained by everyone in Wisconsin). He was a gamer, but enough is enough.

With the antics of the last few years, he's starting to look less like Johnny Unitas and more like Terrell Owens. I just want to get this straight: he's always thought he could still play, but he retired because he didn't think the Packers were showing him enough love? Wow! How is that not T.O.?

Here's his last pass in the NFL. I think John Elway's last game was a lot better...



More hockey stuff later...

How Lowe Can You Go?

“And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.”
--Bob Dylan

Any time a radio interview starts out with a general manager saying, “He’s a moron, first of all,” you know there’s going to be some fallout. I have to admit, as much as I hate mudslinging in the press, it’s about time that Kevin Lowe manned up and said something to Brian Burke. Ever since Kevin Lowe and the Edmonton Oilers signed then-Restricted free agent Dustin Penner to a 5 year, $21.25 million dollar offer sheet, the Anaheim GM has been taking shots at Lowe at every opportunity. For the most part, he’s been questioning Lowe’s tactics in building the Oilers team, as well as driving salaries upward around the entire NHL. He’s been insinuating that all of the skyrocketing contracts can be directly attributed to Lowe’s actions from last summer. Is he right? Maybe—but probably not. Has Burke acted like a child in this entire situation? Hell yes.

The major problem that I have with Brian Burke in this melodrama is that he’s not holding himself accountable for his own actions. When it comes to the escalating prices for free agents, each and every GM has played his part (except for Dean Lombardi, he doesn’t sign anyone to ANY contracts—therefore can’t overspend). Last season, he dropped a 2 year contract for $11.25 million on Mathieu Schneider. That’s the same Mathieu Schneider that was playing with the 3rd defensive pairing by the end of the season. How is that even remotely fiscally responsible? It’s also ironic that the man that is complaining about rising costs is also the man that is $2.4 million dollars over the cap right now. Come to think of it, the Ducks still have to sign RFA Andrew Miller, so there’s a good chance that their cap deficit will be over the $3M mark. Please tell me again…Who is the one complaining?

It’s not as though Burke has made savvy choices to set up the Ducks for the long haul. When you look at their pipeline, they are seriously lacking in depth in most positions. Bobby Ryan should be up with the big team for good this year. On the back end, Brian Salcido may make the team as a bottom-pairing guy if Schneider’s contract is moved. But that’s it. From all accounts, there’s nothing left in the cupboard.

I think the main reason that Burke is complaining about the salaries is because that’s the way that he’s always built his teams. It was one thing to try to build a team through free agency before the lockout. Nowadays, how can anyone expect to fill all of their holes through their checkbook? When there’s a cap, it seems like its common sense to build from within. Burke should be realizing that it’s simply not cost effective to BUY a contender in this economic climate.

On top of trying to buy talent to compete with the upper-tier teams, this looks like the last year before a potential drop of NHL depth for the organization. After next season, Brendan Morrison, Todd Marchant, Rob Niedermayer, Sammy Pahlsson, Travis Moen, Brian Sutherby, Brad May and George Parros all become unrestricted free agents. The daunting aspect to Anaheim’s problem is that those are just the FORWARDS who become unrestricted. Next season is also the last for 5/6 of their defense corps (only Chris Pronger is signed after next year, who has 2 years left on his deal). So like it or not, the Ducks look to be in for a rebuild after next season. There’s really only one person to blame for that. If you can’t figure it out, ask any Vancouver Canuck fan—they’ll be able to blurt out the answer faster than you can say: “Sedin Twins.”

(Edit: Since writing this, Anaheim signed yet another defenseman to a 1 year contract. So now they are currently $3.2 million over the salary cap—not counting Miller—and still, the only defenseman signed past next year is Chris Pronger. Brilliant.)

Apparently this is par for the course for Brian Burke. In Vancouver, he left the organization bare with aging players with huge contracts. If it wasn’t for Dave Nonis’s ability to unload the Bertuzzi mess to Florida in exchange for Roberto Luongo, Vancouver’s freefall would have been much more severe. Clearly Brian Burke has an affection for those Canuck teams and still has not learned his lesson, because he just signed another player from those teams. Hopefully for Brendan Morrison’s sake, he’ll be able to bounce back from a serious knee injury—but given Burke’s track record with moves lately, I wouldn’t count on it.

When the GM is speaking to the public as if he can do no wrong, he opens himself up to ridicule. Here’s a perfect example:

I could care less about the Ducks trade with St. Louis in the middle of last season. Andy McDonald was traded for Doug Weight in a move that was clearly to win now. I can respect that. But when the General Manager is in the press destroying another executive for his deals, I’m more inclined to look deeper into any deal by Burke. Since he’s been bullying other GM’s in the press, if the deal isn’t successful, I’ll judge swiftly and harshly. It’s just human nature. So let’s break out the microscope and analyze last year’s transaction:

1. So Doug Weight was brought in to win NOW. They didn’t win and Weight is gone. Strike 1.

2. Andy McDonald was moved to make room for Teemu Selanne’s contract so they would win NOW. They didn’t win and Selanne may or may not be gone. Regardless, there’s no contingency plan if he decides to retire. Bottom line: it doesn’t sound like it was handled well. Strike 2.

3. Andy McDonald was already more productive, younger, and a better fit than Doug Weight. The Ducks scoring woes only intensified when McDonald was traded. When a team is having problems scoring, trading away one of their best, young offensive players sounds counter-productive. Strike 3.

The only argument for making the trade is that they had to dump salary to stay under the cap. Now I ask you, whose fault is that? Is it because of Todd Bertuzzi’s contract that there was no room under the cap? Maybe Burke shouldn’t have offered $4 million per year after consecutive injury plagued, non-productive seasons. It’s not like the Neidermayer/Selanne situations came out of left field. Even if Burke didn’t think it was likely, there still should have been a plan in place.

Speaking of which, let’s fast forward to today with these 3 particular players. Bertuzzi’s contract has been bought-out and Doug Weight has left as a free agent. Contrast their situation to Andy McDonald’s with the St. Louis Blues. First and foremost, he’s still WITH the team (which is more than we can say about Bertuzzi or Weight). By all accounts, he’s the youngest and best of all the players mentioned at this stage in their respective careers. All in all, it’s a bad situation for the Ducks that was caused by multiple bad decisions by Brian Burke.

The most interesting part of this story has nothing to do with the pattern of bad decisions Burke has made. The far more fascinating pattern is the GM’s typical exit strategy from an organization. As previously mentioned, the Ducks will be a mess after next season with plenty of holes to fill all over the ice. Ironically, another free-agent to be after next season usually wears a coat and tie to games and watches from the press box. There have been rumors about Burke bolting to Toronto for over a year now. When confronted with a similar situation as he was in Vancouver, what’s to stop him from jetting north of the border? I’ve always found that the best predictor of the future is the past. And where he can find more television cameras eager to broadcast his face? Toronto would give him an avenue to run from a problem that he created and find more money, all while receiving more attention. It sounds like a match made in heaven!

It’s important to not forget that there are 2 sides to this story. Kevin Lowe offered not one, but 2 untraditional contracts last year. Before the offer to Penner which was not matched by the Ducks, Lowe and company presented a 7 year, $50 million offer sheet to Thomas Vanek. Buffalo matched the offer sheet, but it seemed to signal the direction the Oilers were going to go during the summer of 2007. Instead of throwing millions of dollars around for the older unrestricted free agents, Lowe decided to go against tradition and actively pursue RFAs in their early 20s that would better fit the overall plan he had set out for his team. He made a calculated decision that it would be worth the draft-pick compensation if he was able to land one of the young, NHL-ready players. You can debate whether they were good moves or not, but I understand where he’s coming from. When you draft a player, you’re goal is for them to develop into a 30 or 40 goal scorer. Instead of drafting players with his picks, he was trading the picks for a player that had already proven he was capable of producing at the NHL level. Anytime a GM aggressively goes after a young, proven NHL commodity, I’ll applaud his actions.

Even though there had been the opportunity for opposing GMs to sign restricted free agents to offer sheets since the new Collective Bargaining Agreement was approved, it was frowned upon to take advantage of it. Burke responded by saying, “If I had run my team into the sewer like that, I wouldn’t have thrown a grenade like that at the other 29 teams.”

Remember, Kevin Lowe did not do anything against the rules of the CBA. No, he was going against tradition. If I was the CEO of a major corporation, I’d love to have employees that were always thinking outside the box to bring valuable assets to my company.
Kevin Lowe was the first to go after a high priced player and accordingly, he was the first to offer up a contract of that magnitude. As he stated in his rebuttal of Burke’s year long comments, “The reality is, Rick Nash's contract a number of years ago, (Patrice) Bergeron's and (Ilya) Kovalchuk's; that sets the standard - that's been going on for decades,” (TSN.com). As market factors push prices skyward, there will always be noticeable leaps that in retrospect are milestones. I can’t fault the offer for Vanek, because it was actually matched by the Sabres. If it was completely out of line, then Buffalo would have simply walked away with 4 draft picks. Additionally, looking at Penner’s current contract, it’s in line with the market. It certainly doesn’t stick out like a sore thumb like Alex Rodriguez’s contract. The contract fits both the current financial climate and the player’s ability. Isn’t that the definition of a good contract?

Brian Burke has recently been complaining about the Penner contract because he had to sign Corey Perry to a contract extension. Again, I’m not sure why Burke is complaining that Kevin Lowe is forcing him to do anything. Signing Perry to a 5 year contract worth just over $26 million dollars was a strategic move to keep Perry in Anaheim long-term. Also, it looks like Perry is getting paid $1 million more per year with the Ducks than Penner is with the Oilers. Does that mean Perry’s contract is off the charts? Of course not.

The reality is that salaries are simply escalating. By all accounts, this feud between general managers has gone way past competition and is now personal. In fact, my favorite part of this story has just unfolded. At the end of the radio interview with Edmonton’s Team 1260, Kevin Lowe’s final words were, “What I really want to say about his bickering about parity and the salary cap is if you're unhappy about them, then trade him (Perry) our way, we'll be glad to have him." His sharp statement cuts through all of the financial BS. No concerns about “economic climates.” Just straight out, “if you don’t like having to pay your good players, we’ll be happy to take him off your hands and pay him ourselves!” Lowe clearly made a tongue-and-cheek remark to end the interview and drive home his point of how ridiculous Brian Burke has been.

In the interim, Gary Bettman has stepped in to tell both of the General Managers that enough is enough. Since we’re talking about 2 grown adults, this is over, right? Well, not exactly.

Apparently Anaheim’s GM has filed a complaint with the league office. I’ll quote this, because it’s so miserable that I can’t do it justice with paraphrasing. Regarding Lowe’s final statement about Corey Perry, Burke said, “Our understanding is that such an expression of interest constitutes tampering. We have asked the league to investigate whether a tampering episode has taken place.” I can honestly say, if they really wasted the league office’s time with such a pathetic complaint, that might be the most offensive part of this debacle. After a year of aggressively attacking Edmonton in any press outlet he could find, now he’s crying to the league office that THEY are the victims?

Maybe as a penalty, the Ducks will be forced to spend market value to retain their own players. The horror!

Offspring of a Female Dog

“So why, oh why
Do I, look to the other side?
Cuz I know, the grass is greener,
But just as hard to mow…”

--John Butler

Man, Charles Dickens must have had it right when he was writing “A Tale of Two Cities.” “It was the best of times; it was the worst of times.” Ever since Thursday when Rob Blake decided to screw the Kings again, I’ve been trying to decide if it was the best of times or the worst of times. On the one hand, you have the fact that Blake, his horrible defense, his game that consists of zero heart, and his $5 million salary are gone. I’ve been waiting for Blake to leave since we signed him 2 years ago, so I have no right to be upset. On the other hand, there’s the problem that the Kings actually have to present a team that looks like they deserve to be in the NHL. Looking over their current roster, it looks more like an AHL defense corps. For that, equal blame goes to Dean Lombardi and Rob Blake.

When it came out that we were looking to sign Blake to a short term contract to mentor the young players coming up through the Kings pipeline, there could be some serious problems. First of all, if he was a short-term “bridge” player, Blake would have to swallow some of that pride that King fans have come to love him for. Secondly, the rumor was that the organization was looking to sign him in the range of $2.5-$3.5 million per year. After Blake made $6 million the last 2 seasons (I’m not sure if he earned more than the league minimum), I knew that he wasn’t going to be overly eager to sign a contract for half the salary. Taking that type of pay cut could be tough for your average NHLer to endure, but even more so with Blake. We’re talking an ego of epic proportions!

I can’t say this really surprises me. The minute I found out, I emailed a co-worker and compared him to the offspring of a female dog. After I tried to let the anger simmer for a while, the emotions didn’t subside. I sent a mass text to just about everyone I know comparing him to a feminine hygiene product. That helped a little bit. In fact, I reconnected with a friend that I hadn’t talked to in 6 months…. his entire response was, “Hell yes he is, how have you been?” See, a hatred for Rob Blake brings people together!

Clearly there are 2 sides to this story. Most of the Kings fans that have watched Blake over the last two seasons in LA agree that his game has taken a few steps back. Even though we knew he was a free-agent at the end of the season, it was pretty much understood that management would offer him his retirement contract and he’d finish his playing days in Los Angeles. For better or worse, it was just reality.

So after the organizations attempts to sign Brad Stuart and Brooks Orpik came up short at the beginning of the free-agency period, there was a real reason for signing Blake. With the younger players developing (but not quite at the NHL level yet), Rob would be needed to fill out one of the 6 defensive spots and serve as a role model that the younger players could emulate themselves after. First-round pick Drew Doughty has said that he’s grown up watching the Kings’ captain and views him as something of an idol. Since the trade with Lubomir Visnovsky, the top-6 increasingly looked like it would have to include Blake. It just seemed to go right along with most of us had assumed all year. He’ll resign (for probably too much money), his production will continue to slide, and he’ll retire. With San Jose’s offer, it looks like that plan that we’ve begrudgingly accepted has been permanently derailed.

Now the Kings organization is left without enough defensemen that are ready to play at the NHL level. The development plan with the younger players has been to bring them up slowly, through juniors, then the American league, and when they’re 100% ready, up to the NHL. This is supposed to be the plan with Colten Teubert and Alec Martinez (college instead of minors for Martinez). The organization wanted to let them gain confidence, and then when they were ready, the players would be able to adjust to the speed and skill under the best of circumstances. Since the Kings have had a history of rushing young defenseman to the NHL and watching them crumble under the pressure, most fans welcome this change in philosophy. Since Blake left, he has the potential to not only ruin the organization’s present, but also its future. Bringing some of these players up too early could be a disaster for their confidence.

It’s in this environment that Rob Blake decided to unexpectedly leave the Kings, in favor of their rivals in Northern California. We were going to resign him when we didn’t really need him—and he was more than willing. It seems like the moment that desire to resign Blake turned to necessity, he took his new found leverage and decided to do what he does best: look out for himself. He could have taken this opportunity to restore the faith of the fans that still haven’t forgotten 2001, but instead he only reinforced the perception of his selfishness. I honestly doubt he’ll be forgiven anytime soon.

As in any tragedy, there are more players that conspire to bring heartache. Every ounce of my being wants to place the blame squarely on the selfish athlete. But that would be too easy. Real life is messy and never so easily explained. How did Dean Lombardi let the situation get to this point? How in the hell was there no fall-back plan? Why are we looking at 2 players that barely made their team and 2 rookies looking to be important pieces of the line-up that will be depended on game in-game out?

Part of the blame has to go to the General Manager. If the Kings had exclusive negotiating rights for the entire off-season up until July 1st, how was a deal not in place? If Lombardi wanted to wait to see if he could sign Stuart or Orpik, he should have had the back-up plan in case both decided to sign elsewhere. Lombardi has stated that on July 3rd, Blake’s agent explained that the Sharks had made a proposal, and described the details of the deal. Lombardi responded by asking for more time because he, “needed to see what he could work out.”

Is it laziness, lack of decision making abilities, non-decisiveness, or simply gross incompetence? Neither of the 2 defensemen that Lombardi had targeted were a sure thing. There had to be a specific contingency plan in place in case they were forced to sign Blake for next year. Exact numbers should have been hammered out before July 1st to avoid, well…. to avoid THIS EXACT SITUATION! Furthermore, with the team that’s in place, both Blake and another defenseman were probably needed. Again, Lombardi was quoted in stating that the organization was looking to sign BOTH a left-handed shot from the point and Rob Blake. If that’s the case, then why wasn’t the deal finalized the day free-agency opened. Forget that, why wasn’t Blake locked up before free-agency? Since it was clear the Kings had no desire to go out and sign one of the top-tier defensemen (Brian Campbell or Wade Redden, just to name a couple), then Rob Blake was a predetermined piece to next years puzzle.

There’s that old saying, “fool me once, shame on you…. fool me twice, shame on me.” Everyone should have known where this was going to end up. If you put money in front of Rob Blake, then he’ll follow it. That’s how whores work. He’ll call it a business decision, but it wasn’t business when he openly whined how he wanted to retire as a King and move to the front-office when his playing days were done. I’m convinced that the only reason he wanted the Kings to resign him this year was because he figured that this situation was the scenario that presented him with the best opportunity to max out his earning potential.

When the Sharks failed in their attempts to re-sign Brian Campbell or lure Wade Redden to the west coast, they were forced into a position give to Blake a hard look. The Sharks are a Stanley Cup contender with their window closing. With the dissention of Campbell, they desperately needed a point man on the back end of their power play and another veteran in their locker room. Unlike the Kings, they had a back-up plan. When their Plan A & B failed, they aggressively went right after someone that would fill the gapping hole in their line-up. I don’t blame the Sharks; they did exactly what their organization thought they needed to do.

My problem with Rob Blake (and I think the problem that most fans have) is that this isn’t an isolated incident. We’re talking pattern here. This is the same player that refused a contract that would have made him the second highest paid defenseman in the entire league. How many people would refuse that type of offer from the team that he’d grown up with? It wasn’t only the notion of him turning down the proposal-- it was the manner in which he did it: whining to the media, telling anyone that would listen that he wanted to test free agency, and ripping the captain’s “C” off of his jersey. With acts and comments like these, he destroyed his trade value because every team in the league knew the Kings were going to be forced to unload him. One event after another, he tested the patience and the goodwill of King fans all over. Once he was in Colorado, he provided the cherry on top of the sundae of ill-will. After consistently stating his intentions to test free-agency (so he could cash in on his payday), he signed with the Avs before he was unrestricted. I still haven’t figured out why he couldn’t do that in L.A., nor have I figured out why he was so public with his desire to leave. I have no problem with a player wanting to leave. It was the overwhelmingly negative manner in which he did it that rubbed me the wrong way.

So this is the backdrop to the current situation. It’s not like this is a player that doesn’t have history. It’s not like it’s an isolated incident. It’s not like King Fans haven’t been trying to put those events in the past. With sports figures, the good comes with the bad. The good is that a person like Rob Blake can ask for $9 million a year to play a game that he loves. The bad is that when he asks for this payday, then leaves to chase the money, he’ll be marked as a greedy traitor for years to come. Everything has its price.

When Blake signed his last contract with the Kings after the lockout, there was a different economic climate in the sport. The financial side of the game was supposedly created so that all teams would be able to compete for the elite players. It was under these conditions that Rob Blake signed his 2 year, $12 million contract. While it was a step back from his previous contract in Colorado, it was in line with the new realities of the NHL. In fact, it could be argued that he was even overpaid when looking at comparable players. To this day, it’s the largest post-lock out contract the Kings have given out.

After the first year of this new contract, the Kings were in the position to trade this defenseman to the San Jose Sharks for one of their goaltenders: Evgeni Nabakov. At the time, they still had Vesa Toskula and it was much more desirable to trade Nabokov’s contract. Straight up, the Kings would be able to find that #1 netminder that had eluded them since Rogie Vachon. We’re talking 30 years of goaltending from the likes of Rob Stauber and Daniel Bertheume. When you look back and yearn for the days of Kelly Hrudey or Felix Potvin, you know that your team has had some serious problems in net.

Unfortunately, Mr. Blake didn’t see it that way. He had a No-Trade contract, and he took this opportunity to enact it. For a man that said he cared about the Kings, an incredibly selfish act. As an isolated act, this isn’t a big deal. It’s a veteran that’s respected around the league enacting a clause in his contract that he’d negotiated. Under the surface, with the wounds of 2001 still healing, it was a reminder of his biggest flaw: his character. Of course, as the Kings fans went into the season with Jason LaBarbara as the #1 goalie, you couldn’t help but wonder “what if” as the puck ended up in the back of the net with depressing regularity. (By the way, Nabokov was a finalist for the Vezina trophy and had the best year of his career)

Halfway through the season, it was painfully obvious that the Kings were not going to do anything that resembled winning last year. As the trade deadline approached, they were obvious “sellers” who were trying to cash in any tradable assets to help for their future. High draft picks were the target of choice, and Lombardi made it clear exactly what he was looking towards. Again, the San Jose Sharks came a-calling. This time, the Sharks offered their 1st round draft pick for the services of Rob Blake for the rest of the year. Again, the ball was in Blake’s court. He had spent the season praising the development plan of the Kings and how he hoped to land a job in the front office at the end of his career. His actions seemed to insinuate, “nevermind those selfish acts of the past, I have the Kings colors running through my veins.”

Please, I know better. At that instant, he had an opportunity to help the Kings more than he could on the ice. Accept the trade and the Kings would receive a valuable 1st round pick for his trouble. Not only that, he’d be a free agent at the end of the year and would be welcomed back to the City of Angels, quite possibly with a warmer reception than he’d had for a decade! So at this crossroad, what would Blake do? Well, he’d do what he always does, of course… turn the trade down. He went on to express that the only team he’d consider waiving his no-trade clause for would be the Colorado Avs. By going public, again, he handicapped Kings management from receiving an equitable trade proposal. After discussions, Colorado decided to bring back Adam Foote to help their blueline by trading their 1st round pick for his services. Apparently, the 1st round pick wasn’t even on the table during the negotiations with Los Angeles because the Avalanche management knew that they were the only team that Blake would consider. For the second time, he had cut the legs from under the Kings organization when attempting to trade him to Colorado.

So instead of “taking one for the team,” by accepting the trade and going to a contender, he stayed at his cozy job with the Kings where he could suck in relative obscurity while the rest of the league geared up for the stretch run. When presented with an opportunity to make a run at the Cup, Blake chose the path of least resistance (and hurt the Kings in the process).

After 2 seasons of talking about how much he wanted to stay with Los Angeles for the rest of his career, it became apparent that the Kings were the front-runners to resign him in free agency. Clearly he didn’t want to move at this stage in his career, and since the team he loved was trying to develop youngsters who idolized him at his position, he’d obviously stick around, collect a significant paycheck, and mentor the next generation. Of course, it’s never that easy.

When San Jose lost out on their two primary targets in free agency, their focus went back to the player that Doug Wilson had been trying to acquire for the last calendar year. But Rob Blake’s not interested, right? He’s been offered the chance to move to the contender in Northern California twice, and on both occasions he declined. But this situation was much different. He was being offered more money, and as most King fans will tell you, this is the altar to which Blake worships. Just for kicks, this situation would leave the Kings organization completely empty handed for an asset that they had attempted to trade multiple times.

No Evgeni Nabokov. No 1st round pick from San Jose. No 1st round pick from Colorado. No, that would treat this organization with respect. What’s the use in that? After all, there was potential money out there. Once again, this is not personal, this is business.

So here we stand on the 4th of July weekend. Rob Blake is a Shark. The Kings have about 4 defensemen that are qualified to play in the NHL, but I’m glad he’s gone. Hopefully this time, its permanent. I can only speak for myself, but I can’t wait for the first time San Jose visits Staples Center this coming season. I’ll be boo-ing from the parking lot. I’ll practice on the 5 freeway on the way. I’ll bring lozenges for myself, my fiancé, and anyone sitting in the same section as me.

It’s no wonder that he ended up on the same team as Jeremy Roenick. In the eyes of most King fans, they deserve each other. Here’s to the Sharks choking in the first round again! And here’s to another Kings season shooting for that #1 overall pick. If I’m simply driven by hate, it’s going to be a long year.

On that note: Booooooooooooooo!

Bartender, what do you have on draft?

“I look to the future because it’s where I’m going to spend the rest of my life.”
--George Burns

When your team is mathematically eliminated before Halloween, you tend to grasp for anything that holds hope. So when the Kings started the season like they were doing their best LA Clippers impersonation, I knew it was going to be a long year on the ice. Normally I’d throw myself 100% into the draft. Being the eternal optimist, I’m always thinking that glory is only a year away (clearly as a King fan, I haven’t learned my lesson). Unfortunately, I’m still trying to recover from the shock of last years draft bombshell. With that bitter taste in my mouth, I’ve tried to avoid the excitement of the draft. Yet again, the Kings pulled me back in. I’m like a battered wife. I know I’m being abused, but I still can’t bring myself to leave!

So with this uneasy feeling, I felt the momentum of the pending draft building….

Day 1 – Friday

Enough negativity… the Kings just had a HUGE draft! Lombardi got the party started on the right foot by going with the safe, expected, correct pick with Drew Doughty at #2. Looking at the draft, and more specifically those top 4 defenseman that were at the top of the draft, Doughty looks like he could be the special one out of the group. After the GM went off the reservation last year with the Thomas Hickey pick, I’m not sure my heart could handle another selection like that. I’m not saying that Hickey wasn’t a good pick (in fact, he’s increasingly looking like he could be an important piece to the Kings future), I’m just saying that I needed something expected. So many times, things can be over-thought. When there’s a player that has a style of play that’s compared to Ray Bourque or Scott Neidermayer, the game plan should be simple. Stride up to the podium, smile big, say “Drew Doughty,” and run from the podium with an evil laugh!

The big decision seemed to be between Doughty and a kid named Zack Bogosian. Bogosian looks to be in much better physical shape at this early stage in his development and shot up all the draft scouting services in the last year and a half. While he doesn’t have the same type of special offensive upside, by all accounts he’s a little better in his own end.

Since the Kings were doing their best to avoid respectability at every turn, it was only natural to project which player would be part of our future. With such a long season, I’d gone back and forth as to whom I wanted wearing The Crown. Doughty had been consistently ranked as the best defenseman, but Bogosian seemed like a better fit with his grit. Any edge in physicality seemed like it would be my determining factor. It almost looked like the Kings defensemen were allergic to clearing out the front of the net.

In one swift kick to the head, my mind was permanently changed. I was reading “The Hockey News” comparisons for most of the highest projected picks, and Bob McKenzie provided me with the biggest red flag imaginable. “D comparable Rob Blake.” No thank you. Management should be focusing on getting rid of Blake, not bringing in a young clone!

Once I heard that, my attention was focused squarely on Doughty and what potential he may have. He’s an extremely polished player whose “hockey IQ isn’t high, it’s off the charts!” Intelligence on the rink is something that simply can not be taught. Another major sales point was the style of game that Doughty plays. Toughness is something that can be acquired through trades and free agency. High-end skill and talent are not as readily available. If Drew Doughty’s biggest deficency is that he lacks that “nasty streak,” then it is much easier to procure with another defenseman.

That leads us to the Kings next pick. Originally L.A. held the 28th pick in the first round from the Dallas Stars in the Norstrom trade at last season’s trade deadline. Immediately before the draft started, Lombardi acquired the 12th pick in the draft by trading away the first round pick (#28) and Michael Cammallari. Watching Cammy leave to Calgary was bittersweet, but expected. Ever since the arbitration fiasco before last season came to light, it was only a matter of time before he was shipped out of town. It was clear that management did not think they were going to be able to meet his financial demands when he became a free-agent and they did not want to watch him walk without receiving some sort of compensation. After hearing rumors of Jarret Stoll for Cammy, I was jumping for joy when I heard that the Kings picked up the 12th overall pick.

Immediately my attention turned to the possibilities at #12. Since the Kings have had a deficiency at defense in their pipeline since, well… since the franchise started 40 years ago, I was hoping for another blueliner. There was a guy that I liked for the 28th pick a few months ago, but the guys stock had risen so dramatically, it became apparent that he was going to go in the middle of the first round. Now, all the sudden, the Kings had a pick in the early/mid first round and would be in a position to grab him. The only question: Were the Kings as high on Colten Teubert as I was?

Teubert is a stay at home defenseman with a SERIOUS nasty streak. Good on his feet, better with his fists, he looked to embody all of the deficiencies that Drew Doughty could be lacking. The best comparisons I’ve heard on this kid are Adam Foote with more offensive upside, Robyn Rehger, and even Shea Weber of the Predators. I’m still smiling just thinking about it. Not only was Lombardi able to get a defenseman that was tailor-made for the Kings’ needs, he was also able to trade down a pick with Buffalo to #13 in exchange for the Sabres’ 3rd rounder next year. Icing on the cake!

A first round that had Drew Doughty AND Colten Teubert just about redeemed a year of futility on the ice. You can’t trade for the type of skill that Doughty has and you can’t over-value a character, shut-down type defenseman. By all accounts, Friday’s first round was a smashing success for the Kings. Now what would they do with the rest of their hoard of picks?

Day 2 – Saturday

After the Kings hit a home run with their focused picks in the first round, Dean Lombardi had a lot more freedom to do as he chose with his picks on the second day. Trade, forwards, more defenseman, I had no idea what he’d do. One thing that I did know was that we had the second pick in the 2nd round and there were two prospects that I was drooling over. Colby Robak from the Brandon Wheat Kings was one of those players like Colten Teubert to me. Since I started really looking into the prospects, he was one of those players that I was praying would somehow fall lower in the draft. When the Kings has the 28th pick overall, Robak was someone I hoped we’d get. Now, at #32, he was looking to be available. On top of that, Nicolas Deschamps had taken a tumble in down the draft board. A very good skating, 2-way center with a decent amount of upside seemed tailor-made to address a second glaring weakness for the Kings—a second line center. Currently, Brian Boyle is the make or break prospect behind Anze Kopitar at the pivot. If he doesn’t continue to develop and follow through with the flashes of brilliance that he showed in his brief call up to the NHL, the Kings could have a black hole at center. Deschamps would easily address this concern.

Either way, with Robak and Deschamps, the Kings looked to be able to have a smokin’ first 3 picks. Then comes the first bombshell…

“With the 32nd overall pick in the 2008 Draft, the Los Angeles Kings take Vjateslav Voinov from Russia.” For me, this was a surprise first and foremost because, well… I didn’t see it coming at all. Dean Lombardi has been known to favor North American juniors over underagers from Europe (especially Russia). When looking at potential draftees, I almost ignored all of the Russians outside of Filitov. With the pick, I went scrambling for something to spark my memory. He played in the recent Canada/Russia pseudo-Summit Series. Even though the Russians were thoroughly over matched in every phase of each game, Voinov kept battling until the end in each game. Extremely tough with (again) that nasty streak, he definitely rubs his opponents the wrong way. Some people compare the young Russian to another Russian from a decade ago: Darius Kasparitis. If Voinov progesses to maximize his offensive potential while retaining his nastiness, Vladamir Konstantinov could be a better comparison. Either way, the initial impression is that Vjateslav looks to be a good value in the 2nd round addressing an area of need.

Speaking of Russians, the Kings’ scouting staff chose another when they went for Andrei Loktionov. Playing center, he had 8 points in the U-18 World Championships for Russia. From all accounts, he sounds like an intelligent center with above average ice-vision. In fact, Loktionov has been training with the former Red Wing and newly elected Hall of Famer Igor Larionov. If the youngster can pick up any of that on-ice IQ by osmosis, he could be quite a play maker.

In a draft year that everyone was wary of selecting Russians due to a lack of a transfer agreement, Lombardi and Co. decided to use 2 separate picks on Russians. Both Voinov and Loktionov have expressed their desire to play in North America as soon as possible. In fact, Voinov was selected 5th overall in the CHL junior draft and Loktionov was picked 7th. If the two make the trip to Canada for juniors, they’ll be able to continue their development to the rougher, tougher style of game. Going into next year, there’s an outside chance that Voinov will even make the Monarchs. Only time will tell, but if both players come to North America then they were strong picks.

In the 3rd round, the Kings followed through and used all 3 picks (used one to move up a few spots). The first Kings selection of the 3rd round was Robert Czarnik. Playing for the U.S. Under-18 Developmental team, his strongest attribute is his skating ability. He has already signed to play with the University of Michigan, so it will be a few years before he signs a professional contract. Since he’s only 1 of 2 players drafted that will be in the college ranks next year, the organization can afford to watch him develop in the college ranks without having to rush his development.

The second pick in the 3rd round, the Kings traded up to #74 overall to select defenseman Andrew Campbell. At 20 years old, Campbell will end up playing with Manchester next year. Throughout the season at Sault Ste. Marie, Campbell transitioned in Lombardi’s mind from a project to a prospect. Even with the increase in efficiency in his game and a 6’5” frame, Andrew was not even ranked by Central Scouting. It looks like the Kings were so high on him; they traded up 7 spots to secure him in the 3rd round. Even if another team was targeting him in the mid-3rd round, this pick was definitely unexpected. He still looks to have a lot of work ahead of him, but he’s another player that addresses the lack of toughness the Kings defense demonstrated all season.

The last of the 3 players selected in the 3rd round was Geordie Wudrick from the WHL. A physical power forward, Wudrick is definitely a “north-south” type of player. He’s similar to another prospect currently in the Dub, Wayne Simmonds who was selected in last year’s second round: he doesn’t hesitate to drop the gloves. When given the chance to attack the net, Wudrick won’t go around a defenseman—he’ll go through him.

Wudrick’s play is in direct contrast to L.A.’s pick in the 6th round. Like Campbell, another overage player that will go directly to Manchester, Justin Azevedo isn’t your usual late round draft pick. He led the OHL in goals (over players like Stamkos and Tavares) and won player of the year honors for the entire CHL while playing with the tough Kitchener Rangers. He also demonstrated leadership qualities helping the Rangers compete to the final game for the Memorial Cup. Concerns about his size lead to his drop in the draft, but his productivity certainly warrants a late round pick. Even if he doesn’t pan out at the NHL level, he could turn out to be a Jason Krog clone and produce points at the AHL level for years to come.

Garrett Roe rounded out the Kings 2008 draft. Standing at 5’8”, Roe still has 3 years of eligibility at St. Cloud State. If he can continue his progression, he may be able to make Manchester in a few years. With his small frame, he’ll definitely have to increase his production if he wants to have a professional contract upon graduation.

All in all, a very good draft weekend for the Kings. With their first 3 picks, they were able to pick up 3 very good defensemen that all have the potential to make it to the NHL in the next 2-3 years. In Azevedo and Loktionov, Lombardi was able to find 2 players in the late rounds with some incredible upside. Throw in the fact that they were able to turn one of their 2nd round picks into Brad Richardson from the Avs (a speedy skater, with a very good wrist shot who has already made it to the NHL), the organization is much stronger in every area. In a time period that has been dedicated to rebuilding, it was important for the Kings to be successful in this draft.

Only time will tell, but its looking good so far.