I grew up in a Los Angeles suburb and really got into hockey with the Kings run in 1993. They hired Sam McMaster as GM in May 1994. By the opening night 1996, Rob Blake was the only player remaining from the 1993 playoff team.
In his defense, McMaster was put in a tough spot with owner Bruce McNall having financial issues. But here's the run down of bad trades/decisions:
July 1994: Luc Robitaille traded to Pittsburgh for Rick Tocchet and a 2nd rounder -- Wayne Gretzky has denied that he insisted on Luc being traded as they weren't particularly friendly. Meanwhile Wayne and Tocchet were close pals.
February 1995: Alexei Zhitnik, Charlie Huddy, and Robb Stauber to Buffalo for Grant Fuhr, Philippe Boucher, and Denis Tsygurov -- Kings started slow out of the lockout and Kelly Hrudey was the scapegoat. Meanwhile Buffalo had this Hasek guy so Fuhr was expendable. Unfortunately Fuhr performed worse than Hrudey and Boucher needed several years to turn the corner. LA wouldn't re-sign Fuhr who would then become a workhorse in St. Louis. The rumor was that LA dealt Zhitnik for his own safety as he was apparently angering the local Russian mob.
June 1995: LA wins the first ever draft lottery and moves up from #7 to #3. Kings take Aki Berg who they apparently had ranked #1 over Berard/Redden. They rush him into the league to unsexy results.
July 1995: 1996 1st rounder to Washington for Dmitri Khristich and Byron Dafoe -- This ended up being an okay trade despite the 1st ending up being 4th overall (in a bad draft class). This was a last ditch effort to be competitive in Gretzky's final year under contract.
February 1996: Darryl Sydor to Dallas for Doug Zmolek and Shane Churla -- Sydor was in the dog house with coach Larry Robinson and was the new scapegoat for home fans. Unfortunately McMaster sold low and Dallas rehabilitated Sydor into a solid D.
February 1996: Wayne Gretzky to St. Louis for Roman Vopat, Craig Johnson, Patrice Tardif, and a 1997 1st -- Gretzky was an impending UFA so LA had to get what they could. Vopat had some hype at the time but he didn't pan out. LA then whiffed on the 1st. Ironically LA would get a much better return on Kurri/McSorley (Norstrom, Laperriere, Ferraro) than Gretzky garnered.
June 1996: Eric Lacroix and a 1998 1st round pick swap to Colorado for Stephane Fiset -- This one ended up not being bad, but I file this under the 'bullet dodged' category. LA's 1996 1st (previously traded) was 4th overall. Just seemed like a bad idea to do a pick swap with a team that just won the Cup. McMaster would be let go in 1997 and Dave Taylor would clean up the mess. Mix in Fiset wasn't a clear upgrade over Dafoe and they were trying to clear a path for Jamie Storr.
McMaster would later be on the early Columbus teams as a scout. According to the book "Future Greats and Heartbreaks", McMaster had Derick Brassard #2 over Toews/Backstrom/Staal.
