Thread: More Rumors and How Tampa Bay Helped the Kings' Perception Issues

Originally Posted by CarlaMuller

As to the offer sheet route, well……… if some team is so desperate to get O’Sullivan to offer him a Vanek type offer sheet where he will make anywhere from $7 to 10 million dollars next year, then you sort of half to let him go. There, I said it. As much as I want O’Sullivan to be the team’s next captain, a vacancy thankfully available due to the greed of Blake, if another team lays the gauntlet of an obscene proposal, then Lombardi has to check his emotions at the door and make a business decision to benefit the Kings. I would characterize that type of player transaction to be an excellent example of discerning the difference between the forest and the trees. But, it better be an off the charts proposal for Lombardi to justify it.

half of what?

Originally Posted by CarlaMuller

Your points have a lot of merit and I remember the quotes you referenced. The optimist in me wants to wait this out and see who ends up where, when and for how much. If DL changes his tune 360 degrees, then he will deserve all the wrath he will rightly receive.

you do know that if you were to rotate/go 360 degrees, you end up back at where you start... right?

sorry... just caught the attention of the math nerd in me in a few spots.

Heck, Visnovsky gave the Kings his wish list of team destinations which sure seems to contradict his claim he had no idea a trade was a possibility.

Actually, Carla, you didn't report this quite accurately. Visnovsky didn't claim he never had any indication a trade might happen. He said Lombardi told his agent around the draft that they might move him, and Visnovsky said it was fine. Lombardi gave a list of teams that had expressed interest, Visnovsky offered a list of six teams he was willing to accept a trade to, then nothing happened.

Where the controversy began is that Lombardi and Visnovsky have conflicting accounts of whether both sides had agreed a trade would only happen by mutual agreement. Visnovsky said he thought Lombardi had agreed on this condition and would only send Visnovsky to one of his preferred teams, Lombardi said he only promised to try to honor Visnovsky's requests. Visnovsky was only surprised when the trade happened 1) because it didn't happen at the draft, when he expected a deal would go down if one was going to be made; 2) because Edmonton hadn't appeared on either of the lists exchanged between Visnovsky and Lombardi prior to the draft; and 3) because he had no forewarning from Lombardi and didn't think a trade would happen without him OK'ing it in advance.

The crux of the matter is the "Visnovsky said, Lombardi said" reports on whether Lombardi promised to give Visnovsky a de facto veto over any trade. There was a miscommunication somewhere in there, the sort of thing that's hard to pin on either party without having witnessed it firsthand.