A good team, or in this case, a championship team, doesn’t get built overnight by just anybody.
On Monday, as the L.A. Kings celebrated with their fans the second Stanley Cup in the last three years for the franchise, the team’s captain Dustin Brown was heaping praise on general manager Dean Lombardi for his role in putting this group together.
Oh, and he’s also up for General Manager of the Year.
From NHL.com back in May, before the beginning of the Stanley Cup Final:
Under the direction of Lombardi, the Kings (46-28-8, 100 points) earned their fifth consecutive playoff berth, recorded their fourth 100-point season in franchise history and made their third straight appearance in the Western Conference Final. He solidified the team’s blue line by re-signing defensemen Alec Martinez, Jake Muzzin and Slava Voynov and did the same up front by bringing back Dustin Brown, Kyle Clifford, Trevor Lewis and Jordan Nolan.
“When I talk about my teammates and how we’ve grown that bond, it’s something that you can’t do over the course of two months,” said Brown, as per the L.A. Times. “A big reason why we have the bond we have is because of Dean and his staff.
“He’s a big reason why we could stick together and we’ve been together for hundreds of games and multiple years and that allows us to hopefully bring more of these [Cups] home.”
Certainly, there has been growing chatter about the Kings as a potential dynasty, although not everyone agrees with the notion.
Among Lombardi’s most prominent moves was the addition of forward Marian Gaborik by way of the trade. Gaborik finished fourth in playoff scoring, with three other members of the Kings ahead of him when it was finished. Talk about fitting in. Now the question becomes: Can the relationship last? Gaborik is an unrestricted free agent this summer.
He may also have to make a decision on Mike Richards, who dealt with speculation of a compliance buyout over his head during the post-season. He still has six years left on his current contract, which comes with a cap hit of $5.75 million per season.