Erik Cernak

[T]

Bishop for Cernak has finally let me move on from my Cloutier trama

 

[Sultanic]

When the premier drafting and developing team in the league wants you, its a good sign that you are worth the shot.

Lots of folks had written off or soured on Cernak before that trade. That deal backfired in many ways. Budaj played over his head that year, Quick was due back in weeks. They were within a good shot at the playoffs. Still say that you dance with the girl you brought. They went from an overachiever, maybe a tiring one, to an underperformer at the cost of what has turned into a damn good defenseman.

 

[T]

train wreck by any measure

 

[Greg33]

They obviously weren't all that certain Quick would recover well enough or be stable enough for a playoff run that didn't materialize.

Turns out DL's job was on the line with that playoff run, I do not fault him for picking up Bishop as an insurance policy on Quick. It was a hail mary

DL probably said, "I've still got Matt Roy, he's had a hell of a year, much better than Cernak's... If I keep this job"

That's a 7th rounder out dazzling a 2nd rounder from the same year, same position, same handedness. There's a lot of nuance to it, it isn't black and white.

The thing that finally sunk this ship was keeping Sutter around for too long, that's in black and white. It's not this trade.

 

[Pickle_Pucks]

Let it go, you'll feel better.

 

[hokiecat]

Bishop for Cernak has finally let me move on from my Cloutier trama

Ha ha. I was just looking up the trade again last night too. What a trash move. We brought in Bishop to help back up Quick and have two #1 goalies. That was the era of bad Lombardi-- trading lots of picks for vets with salary retained and signing guys to retirement deals. It is also another indictment of the Kings development team. Cernak was expendable because Clague was just drafted and was more of a sure thing prospect.

That deal backfired in many ways. Budaj played over his head that year, Quick was due back in weeks.

Quick was actually back immediately. IIRC, the Kings went into a weekend with Budaj and nothing (ok Zatkoff who totally sucked) and came out with Quick and Bishop. Dean thought he probably went from a bottom 5 to top 5 goaltending duo but the Kings would have been fine rolling with Budaj and Quick. The could have missed the playoffs without making another bad trade.

 

[Illegal_Stick]

I think these are the moves that leave him still without a job offer. I mean, I hate the Lucic trade, but I get it - it makes some sense and if it works, it's genius. But the trades like this... I mean maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I know I wasn't excited to get Bishop and I don't remember on here people saying we got Bishop! It was more of a huh? He just lost the script at the end.

 

[LAKingSteve]

Let it go, you'll feel better.

Pretty much, right? NHL history is littered with what ifs and the Kings aren't immune to that. Kubalik probably the toughest one lately though it was apparent that he would never sign with the Kings.

Just look at the NHL draft every year and see all the missed opportunities...how many teams passed on Luc.

 

[VCRW]

I think these are the moves that leave him still without a job offer. I mean, I hate the Lucic trade, but I get it - it makes some sense and if it works, it's genius. But the trades like this... I mean maybe I'm remembering wrong, but I know I wasn't excited to get Bishop and I don't remember on here people saying we got Bishop! It was more of a huh? He just lost the script at the end.

In the end, Lombardi went against everything he preached at the "Breakfast with the GM" meetings when he was first hired. Desperation is a terrible motivator... the organization has taken years to recover from Dean bankrupting the pipeline.

 

[jom]

In the end, Lombardi went against everything he preached at the "Breakfast with the GM" meetings when he was first hired. Desperation is a terrible motivator... the organization has taken years to recover from Dean bankrupting the pipeline.

Probably true but he was using the "Detroit model" of trying to continue the winning. It ended up more like the "Old Kings model" which never worked. Most of his trades actually made sense but the Bishop move was a head-scratcher.

As to Cernak: KingSteve above said it best. There are a lot of lost opportunities and mistakes with EVERY franchise. Cernak we gave up too early on. Kind of reminds me of Kimmo Timonnen (sp?) with the Nashville expansion draft. There's a guy that was around a LONG time that the Kings let go just to keep Gary Galley (an older vet by then) from the expansion draft. I originally thought this had something to do with protecting Fiset and Storr...I'm not sure here. In either case that is a BIG screw up. Maybe Cernak will be the same. Oops...

jom

 

[Trapper9]

Cernak wouldn't listen to the direction the Training staff wanted him to go in and they soured on him.

 

[VCRW]

Probably true but he was using the "Detroit model" of trying to continue the winning. It ended up more like the "Old Kings model" which never worked. Most of his trades actually made sense but the Bishop move was a head-scratcher.

As to Cernak: KingSteve above said it best. There are a lot of lost opportunities and mistakes with EVERY franchise. Cernak we gave up too early on. Kind of reminds me of Kimmo Timonnen (sp?) with the Nashville expansion draft. There's a guy that was around a LONG time that the Kings let go just to keep Gary Galley (an older vet by then) from the expansion draft. I originally thought this had something to do with protecting Fiset and Storr...I'm not sure here. In either case that is a BIG screw up. Maybe Cernak will be the same. Oops...

Lombardi vastly overpaid for Lucic. I remember saying at the time he was already a player in decline.

Then Dean blew the Sekera negotiation. Those two management failures signaled that the master plan was unraveling.

 

[jom]

Lombardi vastly overpaid for Lucic. I remember saying at the time he was already a player in decline.

Then Dean blew the Sekera negotiation. Those two management failures signaled that the master plan was unraveling.

All a part of the "Detroit...er....Old Kings model" that he failed at. The trades that made sense I was referring to were the ones made before 2015. The Lucic was especially bad considering what Futa said a couple of months ago how they were prepared to take Barzal with the pick they eventually sent Boston. Oops.

Again, you have to admit it is a very difficult task to keep the system going after you've won two Cups. Do you re-sign your players or trade them? Do you add vets or go after picks. It's tough and most teams fail at it. Bill Torrey always said it's better to trade a player too early rather than too late. I don't know but NYI had a hard time after their Cup runs in the early 80s....then again they did win FOUR in a row and a finals loss. Pretty damn good

jom

 

[VCRW]

All a part of the "Detroit...er....Old Kings model" that he failed at. The trades that made sense I was referring to were the ones made before 2015. The Lucic was especially bad considering what Futa said a couple of months ago how they were prepared to take Barzal with the pick they eventually sent Boston. Oops.

Again, you have to admit it is a very difficult task to keep the system going after you've won two Cups. Do you re-sign your players or trade them? Do you add vets or go after picks. It's tough and most teams fail at it. Bill Torrey always said it's better to trade a player too early rather than too late. I don't know but NYI had a hard time after their Cup runs in the early 80s....then again they did win FOUR in a row and a finals loss. Pretty damn good

When the team missed the playoffs in 2015, it was time to start the process of shaking up the roster, getting younger, and seriously considering replacing Sutter. Dean went in the opposite direction and the team today reflects that poor judgement. 2 Cups in 3 years was an amazing accomplishment in the salary cap era, but Lomdardi wanted to be Bowman.

 

[orpheus]

We should've sent 'em the rights to Voynov. mhihi: :drunk:

 

[Illegal_Stick]

When the team missed the playoffs in 2015, it was time to start the process of shaking up the roster, getting younger, and seriously considering replacing Sutter. Dean went in the opposite direction and the team today reflects that poor judgement. 2 Cups in 3 years was an amazing accomplishment in the salary cap era, but Lomdardi wanted to be Bowman.

I think that really describes Dean well. He started thinking about being this legendary, long-term guy and kind of got caught up in his own BS - the US team was one of the ultimate examples - him thinking he's Herb Brooks. I love the guy, I hope he gets another chance, but I think ego got the best of him - "I can let Voynov skate, I can trade away some picks now, I can make wild swings, because they've always worked etc." I mean you have to at least take a second to acknowledge those few years when every trade worked - Gaborik should not have worked out as well as he did - so it looked brilliant, even if it was a little lucky that Mr. Glass even played the whole playoffs. What i'm saying is, I get why he had the ego, he had a pretty flawless run there. Just wish he had figured it out and was still the GM - and that's no knock on Blake, just saying I wish DL was Bowman too lol

 

[aaron]

DL just couldn't let a guy go. Until it was too late.

Cernak is an indictment of the organizations inability to evaluate their own talent. And to develop it. Wonder where Cernak would be if he doesn't get traded. Probably shuttling back and forth to Ontario.

 

[Ice24]

I don?t like looking in the past. I?m looking forward to the 2025-2026 season.

 

[Dr. Tran]

For some reason I thought getting Bishop was done to clear cap space since he was a pending UFA. But no, Budaj was also a UFA who made way less money. And Bishop didn’t help get us in the playoffs. So I have no idea why they got him or what their justification was at the time. It was a bad deal based on that alone. But when we see how well Cernak has done since then, it makes it one of the worst deals in an era of really bad deals.

 

[jom]

Cernak is an indictment of the organizations inability to evaluate their own talent. And to develop it.

Which, if true, is kind of odd considering the Kings had one of the better development systems around....they still do from what I can tell.

jom