Guys like Cernak, Zykov and McKeown aren't at a level of a Kempe, but when these guys were drafted, we heard the comments from the scouts about each one of these second round picks being thought of as "first round" talent that they were surprised to see drop to them.
They said that? My mom said I was a very good looking young man too.
Of course, a lot remains to be seen of what becomes of them, but when you look at how those were some of the highest selections the organization had over the years, you would hope they would amount to something, say a better return that isn't here for a few months, if that.
They were also picked between 37 and 50. Go through that range of picks over the years. A few all-stars in there, some excellent players, some with long careers, but if you happen to get a player at that point in the draft, then you lucked out. Most guys in that range, no matter how high a pick for any given team, don't do anything. Probably won't get a team altering guy in a trade for them either. Although they did trade 2nd and 3rd round picks for Gaborik, and he scored 14 goals in the playoffs.
If you figure on the law of averages, and Gaborik's performance in 2014 for what they gave up to get him, will probably require maybe 8 trades before the universe evens out. So, Sekera, Lucic, Versteeg, and throw in Bishop, why not. They're about half way there.
Now the Kings have their best prospect this pipeline has seen in a very long time in Gabe Vilardi. The organization has to look at him and Kempe as mainstays to build around in the future. Kopitar can still hold the fort for another 4-5 seasons, but by the time he reaches his mid-30s, you'd hope that he's paving the way for Vilardi to take over, and the same for Kempe and eventually becoming Carter's successor.
When you look at the history of teams, succession plans are very difficult to pull off. Detroit was the exception, and only now are they in a black hole place. Pittsburgh lucked out and got Crosby and Malkin to eventually replace Lemieux and Jagr, but that wasn't a plan as in handing over a torch. Jagr was long gone, and Lemieux was an owner/player. Montreal, NYI, Edmonton, Colorado, Dallas, NJ, haven't been anywhere near as good as they used to be.
Succession plans don't always work in a normal business either. Tough to replace unique talents that are doing their best at the same time. It wasn't just Kopitar and Carter. It was also Doughty, and Quick, and Williams had a career playoff performance in 2014, as did Gaborik. Muzzin was never better.
Had Lucic accepted the Kings ridiculous contract offer then that would maybe have been the worst move of all. And that was in July of 2016.
I don't believe Lucic or Lombardi thought that was actually going to happen. Outside of winning the Cup in 2016, I think both knew that was a one year relationship. Even if they did win, I'm not sure Lombardi could've made it all fit together with all the upcoming contracts.
. Any way you slice it, that trade will burn the Kings for a decade.
