If Blake and Robitaille couldn’t immediately realize the Kings needed a complete tear-down, can the rest of their decisions be trusted? But Blake and Robitaille made things worse when they took on Kovalchuk’s contract and limited their financial maneuvering room. AdvertisementWhen Lombardi arrived in 2006 he had a few young players with potential and brought in veterans to buy time for the kids to develop. Blake is doing something similar by allowing many top prospects to grow before he subjects them to NHL pressure. But this remains a long and tedious rebuild, one that Blake and Robitaille prolonged when they created a lose-lose situation with Kovalchuk.

Source: Los Angeles Times November 16, 2019 19:52 UTC