Dean Lombardi, Blake’s predecessor, traded away first-round draft picks in 2013, 2015, and 2016 to keep a championship team going. His reasoning was sound but his execution wasn’t always good. Trading the 2013 pick, which brought Carter from Columbus and boosted the Kings to their two championships, was a success. The 2015 pick was thrown away for Milan Lucic and the 2017 selection was given away for 16 games of Andrej Sekera. Both left without compensation. Players the Kings might have drafted those years would have been blossoming now. That hurts, especially because 2017 first-round pick Gabriel Vilardi has had back problems that limited him to four minor league games this season. That’s worrisome for a 19-year-old kid.
Source: latimes.com – Los Angeles Times