It was an odd day filled with news of both potentially the good and bad variety on draft day if you are an L.A. Kings fan. Maybe it was good all around for you though.
First off, the Kings were able to lock up Tyler Toffoli on a short two year bridge deal. An excellent move by Dean Lombardi and crew, as the short term on the deal allows for a little more flexibility in the short term while not potentially losing the young sniper to an offer sheet. This sort of assuredness is of great comfort to all parties it seems.
(Forgive me, I am unable to embed tweets at the moment since I am working from an iPad)
The deal is worth $6.5 Million total, and $2.5 in year one and $3.9 in year two.
Then came an unexpected transaction.
Shortly before the draft word started leaking out that the Kings and Boston were in pretty serious talks over 27-year old power forward Milan Lucic. According to Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times, the deal came together as early as the night before the draft.
When all was said and done, the Kings traded the 13th overall pick, backup goaltender Martin Jones, and the outstanding puck moving AHL defensemen Colin Miller, for Lucic. Boston also will retain near half of Lucic's salary.
The big forward has one year remaining on his contract, and only $3.25M in the next year of his $6million dollar hit will be paid by the Kings.
The need for forward clearly hit a boiling point, and Lombardi liked the fit. But is it the right fit?
If you want the positives of the deal, Lucic is just 27. That is still plenty of time to pick up what has been steadily declining production. While he was still good for a solid 40+ points last season, he had just 13 goals at even strength.
There is also talk that Lucic will be inserted into the Kings top 6, as he is a natural left winger, and the current LW group consists of Dwight King, Tanner Pearson, and a natural right winger in Marian Gaborik. We could potentially see a top 6 return for the Vancouver BC native.
This creates a pretty heavy jam up on the Kings forward lines if you are a bottom 6 player hoping to move up. It also has the Kings giving up some fairly significant assets in a pick and prospect+ for a potential one year and out player. Andrej Sekera is also falling into that category, as the Kings gave a 1st round pick + and there is no immediate sign he can get a deal done with the team. The Kings will now not have a first round pick in either this year or next year's draft.
Colin Miller, although there are still questions remaining about his overall defensive game, had a tremendous AHL season. This probably raised his stock to a level which the Kings did not anticipate. On top of winning the fasest skater and hardest shot competition at the AHL Skill competition, Miller put together a breakout offensive season for the Monarchs en route to a championship. While originally thought of as an Alec Martinez esque player, Miller took his offensive puck moving skills to another level. He still has some kinks to work out on what he can and cannot get away with at the NHL level, but altogether the upside looked promising.
Martin Jones is just another victim of a franchise goaltender already being solidified. Jones has also received considerable hype with his cool and composed style of play and good results. Although his overall save percentage may not be that impressive, the shutouts he has recorded speak to a potential NHL future with a role bigger than a backup. He will have a tough time finding playing time over Tuuka Rask however.
A more in depth detailed breakdown of Lucic on the Kings and what it means will be coming early next week (Look for it on Tuesday) when I return from overseas.
Like it or love it, Milan Lucic is an L.A. King.
The cost?
Colin Miller, Martin Jones, and the 2015 1st round pick.
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