Technically speaking, the Los Angeles Kings’ steal-of-a-deal* with Jonathan Quick won’t really be official until July 1. (The same can be said for Sidney Crosby and Tuukka Rask’s pacts, actually.) While Kings GM Dean Lombardi said he’d rather discuss the deal in further detail then, Kings president of business operations/fan favorite Luc Robitaille wasn’t so shy to Rich Hammond.
“Jonathan, he’s one of the players we’ve had for a long time in our organization. From Dean and Ron Hextall and our entire organization’s point of view, it was very important that we get things right with him,” Robitaille said. “We’ve known, for the last three years, the kind of player he is ... So it was important for us and our plan, for the next seven, eight, 10 years, knowing that we have Drew (Doughty) with us and Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown, Mike Richards and Jeff Carter, to make sure that he was part of our organization during that time.’’
Getting Quick for (an anticipated) cap hit of about $5.8 million is a masterstroke, but it’s far from the only bargain you’ll find on the Kings’ roster. Robitaille marvels with the rest of us regarding Lombardi’s ability to sign guys to beneficial and shrewd contracts.
“We want to build something special,” Robitaille said. “Everybody knows Dean Lombardi is a great builder. You look back three or four years ago, and it’s safe to say that we took our time and we did things right. That being said, keep in mind that even though it looks good now, we signed Anze Kopitar before he became the player he is today, and we signed a few of those guys before. We took a gamble and it was the right gamble ... We feel we’re in a good position now, and for the next few years, that we’re going to compete for it every year.”
It certainly seems that way, doesn’t it? Robitaille didn’t really reveal the Kings’ off-season plans, but it wouldn’t be shocking if the team decides to make some minor tweaks. Still, Robitaille was quick to say that “we’re talking to all of our guys that helped us win the Stanley Cup,” so retention might be the key.
The Kings already covered the biggest part of that, though - even if it won’t be official until Sunday.
* - Relatively speaking, of course.