Results tagged “Entry Draft” from Inside the Kings

Even though, by this afternoon, everyone was fairly certain the Kings would draft defenseman Drew Doughty with the No. 2 pick, there was a nervous moment for Doughty just before the draft started.

Sitting in the stands with his family, Doughty watched as Kings GM Dean Lombardi and Calgary GM Darryl Sutter had a long conversation and shook hands. Doughty thought the worst.

``I kind of buried my head in my hands,'' Doughty said. ``I said, `Oh, no.' I really wanted to be a L.A. King.''

Doughty, who grew up as a fan of the Wayne Gretzky-era Kings, was concerned that the Kings had just traded their No. 2 pick to Calgary. Doughty was quite relieved to learn that while the Kings did trade a first-round draft pick, it was their No. 28 pick and had nothing to do with him or the No. 2 pick. A few minutes later, Doughty became a King.

Here's the path the Kings took to drafting defenseman Colten Teubert with the No. 13 pick tonight...

The Kings acquired a 2008 first-round pick from Dallas in the trade last season that sent Mattias Norstrom to the Stars. That pick ended up being the No. 28 overall pick.

The Kings sent that No. 28 pick, along with the No. 17 pick they acquired by trading Michael Cammalleri to Calgary, for the Ducks' No. 12 pick, which the Ducks had acquired from Edmonton.

The Kings, eyeing defenseman Colten Teubert, thought they could move down from the No. 12 spot and still get Teubert. They had a deal in place, with an unnamed team, to move down two or three spots but Buffalo, which held the No. 13 pick, was nervous about missing out on its targeted player. The Kings and Sabres talked, and the Kings agreed to trade the No. 12 pick for Buffalo's No. 13 pick, plus a third-round pick in 2009, UNLESS the Kings and Sabres coveted the same player.

How did they resolve this? Each GM got out pen and paper and wrote down which player he wanted to draft. They agreed to make the 12-13 swap if they coveted different players, so that the third, unamed team wouldn't swoop in and steal Buffalo's targeted player. They showed each other the papers. The Kings wanted Teubert; the Sabres wanted Tyler Myers.

The Kings and Sabres made the swap. Buffalo took Myers at No. 12 and the Kings took Teubert at No. 13.

And it's just that simple...

Here are some quotes from Dean Lombardi after the first round of the draft. I didn't get to ask him about Dan Cloutier because he had to cut the call short. I'll get it tomorrow.

On his analysis of the two picks...
``Doughty's hockey sense is off the charts. I think everyone has a handle of what type of player he is and the special player he could become. ... I think we got (toughness) from Teubert and I think that element was lacking in our group.''

On the decision to trade back up in the first round...
``We set a target from (picks) 11 to 13. That's where we had to be to assure ourselves that we had (Teubert). I was offered some good players (for Cammalleri) who could help us now but they didn't help us in terms of this young core we have put together.''

On how the three-team trade came together...
``I couldn't get anyone to trade with me outright. What was clear to me was that I couldn't get into where I needed to be (to get Teubert). To give up Cammalleri, we had to be in that layer, where Teubert would be there. I couldn't get there outright (trading with one team), so I had to work at sprucing it up a little. ... (Pick No.) 17 was not enough for me to get what I wanted. I thought he was going in the 13-15 range so I was going to teams in the 11 to 14 range. I'm going to teams saying, `If I get 17, would you take 17 and 32?' You start laying out your cards. We (Lombardi, Brian Burke and Darryl Sutter) were all upfront about what we wanted.''

On the decision to trade down from No. 12 to No. 13...
``There was a choice. I could have traded and moved down two spots if I wanted to get cute with it. There was an opportunity for me to move back two or three spots and take a chance that (Teubert) would be there. Finally I went to (Buffalo) and said I won't trade with this other team if you tell me who you're taking. So we wrote down who we both wanted and kind of turned the paper over. Sort of like blackjack, showing your cards. We didn't have the same player written down, so we made the trade.''

On the idea that this is the most important draft in franchise history...
``I got pressure put on me by my owner (team governor Tim Leiweke), who said, `I want the best Kings draft in history.' ... That's a little internal pressure, which is good. ... I guess we won't know unti we're down the road a little ways, but I don't know which draft isn't important.''

On the decision to trade Michael Cammalleri...
``This kid is obviously a good player, but it became fairly clear to me that he was probably going to be a one-year asset, and it's very clear that our ownership wants a young nucleus. ... I think that arbitration process, people said the Kings won but you never win. Quite frankly it's a lose-lose situation. That was certainly a factor going forward. OUr chances of losing him and not maximizing our value were pretty good.''

Sorry about that, folks, but you should be able to comment now. I apologize and I thank you for the patience. I'm curious to hear what everyone thought of today's action. In fact, a poll might be in order. I'll get a few of the Lombardi quotes up tonight...

Here's what I know...

-- It's probably 94 percent certain that the Kings will choose Drew Doughty. Dean Lombardi has not said so explicitly, nor will he, but I wouldn't say something like that if I had serious doubts. I'm leaving a five-percent margin of error, in case the Kings get overwhelmed by a trade offer tomorrow, and a one-percent margin of error in case they discover tomorrow that Zach Bogosian can stop pucks with his teeth and score on 80-foot slap shots.

-- The likelihood of any trade, at this point, is fairly low. I really believed that the Kings would be able to package Cammalleri or Visnovsky, but it doesn't seem that the trade market in Ottawa is as strong as some anticipated it would be. There seems to be a willingness among some teams to wait and see how free agency shakes out.

-- A Kings move back into the top 15 of the draft is possible, but not probable, at this point, given the trade market. Lombardi did comment on this point, and said, ``I'm not sure I can get (a pick) high enough that I just don't sit. You put your lines in the water and see what happens.''

Again, I'll admittedly hedge my bets on the last two, because as I write this, there's still about 17 hours until the draft, and anything could happen. But that's what is out there at the moment.

Here's what TSN said in a story today:

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One report out of Ottawa had 2008 Hart Trophy candidate Evgeni Malkin on the move from the Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins, while Jason Spezza's name continues to be mentioned as possible trade bait. The latter claim was quickly disputed by the Senators' chief deal maker.

"You guys make up more stuff than I can ever imagine," Ottawa general manager Bryan Murray told reporters on Thursday. "I heard a rumour last night that Pittsburgh was moving one of their star players. I talked to their manager today to see if I could be included in the discussions and they kind of laughed at me."

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Pretty much says it all.

I'm still waiting to hear from Lombardi. Chances are, he will call about five minutes after I walk out of the office. But if there's an update to be made tonight, I'll certainly make it.

With the start of the draft just over 30 hours away...

-- The Kings are fully expected to choose either Zach Bogosian or Drew Doughty with the No. 2 overall pick, assuming they're not overwhelmed by a trade offer for the pick.

-- If the Kings jump back into the top 15 (or so) of the draft, they will have their eyes on another defenseman. This depends entirely, of course, on how the draft shapes up.

-- If the Kings keep the No. 28 pick, they're hoping to find that one of the centers they covet is still available.

Here's what Dean Lombardi told the Canadian Press today. It's pretty consistent with a) what he said after the Crawford firing and b) the exact same thing that's said by every GM every year before the draft. They're keeping options open, etc., etc. An enterprising reader could probably go back 12 months and find almost-identical quotes. So we'll see what happens. Quotes like this speak to how fluid the situation is...

``On the first front, I figured I had two legitimate offers for the pick outright that I presented to ownership last week. But it was very clear the direction they want to go, which is more committed towards putting together a solid nucleus.

"As far as moving down in the draft, those are still options. That still has to remain in the equation. And I would suggest that that could go right up until we make the pick. I think the deal outright for the pick, you're probably in or out for sure the day before.

"The one where you're moving moving down, as I've done in the past, can sometimes not happen until right up to making the pick. I've had one legitimate proposal that deserves consideration in terms of moving back."

Finally, we have some clarity in terms of how many draft picks the Kings will have next week -- the number is 15 -- and where they are. Click below to see how the picks from other teams were acquired.

Round Overall Selection

1 2nd
1 28th (From Dallas)
2 32nd
2 48th (From Calgary)
2 61st (From Detroit)
3 63rd
3 81st (From NY Rangers)
3 88th (From Philadelphia)
4 92nd (From Tampa Bay)
4 101st (From Vancouver)
5 123rd
6 153rd
6 179th (From Dallas)
7 183rd
7 185th (From Anaheim)

TSN.ca is doing an extensive blog about the NHL's draft combine in Toronto, where general managers and scouts are getting a look at some of the top prospects. The only mention of the Kings so far is about Dean Lombardi talking to Nikita Filatov. I think it would be more interesting to read about Lombardi talking to Doughty or Bogosian, but oh well. The blog is a good read...

NHL draft combine blog

As part of Dean Lombardi's North American tour to visit draft prospects, he met with Zach Bogosian this week. Here's a short story from the Peterborough Examiner, with a couple quotes from Bogosian and the assertion, from Bogosian's father, that Bogosian wouldn't mind playing for a West Coast team.

Kings visit Bogosian

If you read Don's interview with Drew Doughty a few weeks ago, Doughty made no secret of the fact that he wants to play for the Kings. Doughty, one of the top prospects in next month's draft, could very well end up being a King, if the team doesn't go with Zach Bogosian.

Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times, stuck in Detroit for the Stanley Cup Finals, caught up with Doughty today and he talked more about his desire to be drafted by the Kings.

Playing for Kings would be 'dream come true' for No. 3 draft prospect

Dean Lombardi, Michael Futa, Mark Yannetti and the gang are out all over the continent this month, having sit-down meetings with prospects and their families, and the group will be in Toronto tomorrow for the draft combine. I'll do my best to get an update on how things looked in Toronto.

Finally...the end. Here's the last part of the interview with Mark Yannetti and Michael Futa. It focuses mainly on where the organization stands now and where it's heading and (hopefully) will give you some idea of their vision for the future. I hope everyone found the interview worthwhile! Here's the last part...

OK, I thought this would be the final installment, but there's still another one to come. In this part, Michael Futa and Mark Yannetti discuss what it's like to work for Dean Lombardi and discuss how it can be both challenging and rewarding. It's a bit of an insight as to what it's like to work for the Kings these days...

Here's the second-to-last installment of the interview with Michael Futa and Mark Yannetti. Unfortunately, the final installment will have to wait, since I left my recorder at home this morning. Oops. This part is some real meat-and-potatoes stuff about the job these guys do leading up to the draft...

In this third installment of the interview, Futa and Yannetti talk about preparing for all the different scenarios they might face on draft day, plus they discuss how there is a consensus, among the staff, about which player to select with the No. 2 pick...

Here's the second part of the interview with Mark Yannetti and Michael Futa, in which they start to go into some detail about what their lives are like these days, and how hectic the weeks leading up to the draft can be...

Here's the first part of the long interview I did on Saturday with Michael Futa and Mark Yannetti, the Kings' co-directors of amateur scouting. The interview took place after I sat in on their session, so you'll read a couple references to that morning's meeting.

For a little background, Futa and Yannetti were named to their roles on June 5, 2007, so this is really their first year overseeing the Kings' draft efforts.

Previously, Yannetti worked as a scout for the Kings and the Toronto Maple Leafs. Futa spent the previous five seasons as the general manager of the Owen Sound Attack of the Ontario Hockey League.

What follows is the start of a lengthy, wide-ranging interview. As you'll see, it starts with a simple question but a long, involved answer in which the guys discuss their work and their philosophy. After this, the questions and answers will get more specific. Here's the first part...

The NHL has created nhlentrydraft2008.com, which is a great resource for many of the top prospects, with bios, photos, videos, a sortable database of prospects and other features. It's definitely worth a look...

I will be able to start posting some of the quotes from the extensive interviews with Mike Futa and Mark Yannetti later today -- stuff I really think you'll enjoy -- but I wanted to take a few minutes to answer some questions people had about the Saturday meeting.

Q: Does this mean the Kings have the final draft list done already?

A: No, it's still very much a work in progress. As Yannetti said, they'll be looking at guys up until draft day, and they always have to be prepared for possible changes.

Q: Did the Q word come up by chance?

A: Assuming you're referring to the first name of a recently-let-go coach, no.

Q: I agreed to not reveal certain details, such as specifics about how players are evaluated and which players are being discussed. Don't think of me as ungrateful, but isn't that really the only part of this that interests us?

A: That's for you to decide, but I think you'll enjoy the quotes that came out of it, if you didn't particularly enjoy hearing about the generalities of the day.

Q: When you say "later round prospects", do you mean late-first round guys or potential 3-4-5 guys?

A: More like sixth- or seventh-round guys, it seemed.

Q: Did you get the impression the Kings staff are in agreement on whom they will pick at #2, whomever that may be?

A: Yes, I do get that impression. I asked Futa and Yannetti about this specifically, so you'll see the full answer a bit later. But the short answer is, yes.

Q: Did the question of whether to trade down ever come up?

A: Not specifically. But if you're talking about the No. 2 pick, I don't think it will happen.

Q: Has DL ever made any comments about the various published rankings? Does the org use them in their own evals? I guess, does DL think that they are an accurate and useful tool at all? If they are useful, to what extent are they used?

A: No, he hasn't made any comments, but given what we know about Lombardi, I seriously doubt he takes scouting-service rankings into serious consideration. If he did, I don't think Thomas Hickey would have pulled on a Kings sweater last June.

Q: You say they talked about latter rounds. Was that intentional on their/your part?

A: Not on my part, and I don't believe on their part. I was initially supposed to come in on Friday but it got changed to Saturday. I think that's just who they happened to be discussing.

Q: What I am really curious to know, is that after all the reporting you've done since the DL era began, and especially after this recent meeting you attended (very jealous:), in your opinion, do you think the Kings are headed in the right direction?

A: This is a good question, one for everyone to discuss, and it deserves a better, longer answer so I will address it in the near future.

Q: What kind of food did they serve there Rich? Did they offer you coffee or anything?

A: They're always very gracious hosts, and there's plenty of food in the room to sustain the scouts, but I didn't have anything.