We will have a lot more content up soon from this afternoon’s conference call with newly acquirred Kings forward Milan Lucic and GM Dean Lombardi. To get started, here is the first part of the call with Lombardi…
On how long he was looking at this trade and/or working on it:
“I enquired about him at the end of the year, but Boston was going through a transition. So, I made an enquiry, but it was going nowhere. I think part of that was because Boston had a lot of changes going on. I kind of re-visited it again, and it was going nowhere; there was just no match. Getting here [to Florida], I wasn’t anticipating – and this happens all the time, we were here working on a number of other things, in preparation [of the Draft] – then, it’s clear Boston has chosen its direction, so to speak. It really didn’t get serious until last night. But, there were very informal enquiries, not long after the season ended, first with Peter Chiarelli, then with Don Sweeney. To say, ‘We were working on it?’ I don’t think we were working on it, there was nothing there.”
On what the impetus was for the trade, to make the team better, the likely loss of Justin Williams, something else?
“This goes on all the time, you look to add to your team – even during the season, when you have your scouts on the road. We felt – ‘you know how I do boxes – that we didn’t have the ideal fit for that box. We had a list of players that were the ideal fit. There weren’t many of them. It’s the Clark Gillies-Bryan Trottier-Mike Bossy-type trio that most people think is the ultimate type line. We also wonder whether [Gaborik] is better on the right side. This is a box that we thought, in an ideal world, get a player like Clark Gillies. There aren’t many like this in the league – that can play with top players and bring that element. Safe to say, these are the things you’re looking at, even in November, as you’re always looking at the next move for your team. Just like we’ll do right now, what’s our next hole? That’s why I made the enquiry when the season ended, ‘Is this guy available?’ This deal, what we gave up quite a bit; but It’s very clear, I would not give up that unless, not only it was a player, but a fit… [The loss of Williams] isn’t what drives this. This deal isn’t done unless it’s that type of player. If you’re [implying] we were going to lose some guys, so we had to do something. No, because you know how I feel about our young players. It’s the fit, ideally with {Gaborik and Kopitar], and then that allows everybody else to really fit. This shouldn’t give other teams any relief now, it keeps coming.”
More from Lombardi here, including what comes next on the contract front.
MORE TRADE CONTENT:
DETAILS: Kings Trade Trio of Assets for Bruins’ Milan Lucic
Lucic Says Kings Are Stanley Cup Contenders Next Season
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com
About John Hoven
I will still proudly wear my Williams jersey. He did a lot for us and is a great guy.