Following the annual NHL Trade Deadline, Kings GM Rob Blake met with the local media at the team’s training facility in El Segundo to answer a variety of questions on topics surrounding deals, coach Jim Hiller’s roster, future contracts, expectations, and much more.
On what pleases him and frustrates him about his team right now:
I’ll start with the good stuff early; probably the defensive play — although I think that’s dropped off here the last week, [it’s been] difficult with the chances against — but the overall play and the progression of the young kids. [Conversely], the offense, and the power play specifically, needs to be much better.
On if that was the motive behind today’s trade for Andrei Kuzmenko, given his previous power play performance:
That’s one of his specialties, with the shot, and the history of him in the last couple years — previous to this year — with the scoring ability. Maybe we get a different look to our power play and give us a different offensive feel to that. We’ve tried some other players, but that is what he does, yes.
On if the goal was to not subtract from his NHL roster or if he also looked at bigger hockey trades:
We looked at them. A lot of times, those may get laid down now and may take place in future, in the summer and different things [when there is more availability and stuff. The focus of the group itself was to try to add, specifically in that that box or that area, some type of offense that could help on the power play.
On how be balanced keeping his young talent vs. acquiring impactful NHL players off another team’s roster:
We were more about [trading] a draft pick asset, if we were acquiring something. It wasn’t young players for somebody who may be here for a month or so. For us, it was more targeted — if we’re going to help the team or try to add to the team, we’ll do it in a draft pick type deal. Which we did.
On Brandt Clarke’s season to date and the short-term outlook:
Listen, the NHL is really hard. I think he got off to a real good start. The season gets long, the matchups get difficult. With Drew going out early, it put a lot of emphasis on some of the young D playing a little ahead of where we had them. So, it’s come down. I expect him in these games down this stretch here. This is the important time for him to get back on that little bit of defensive structure that we need. You’ll see the pairs tomorrow kind of go more favorable to where we were early in the year with Edmondson. I think he does a good job with Brandt, in that aspect. But we knew there were going to be some ups and downs with his season.
On the rumors surrounding Brandt Clarke being available:
He never was.
On the potential of a new long-term contract for Vladislav Gavrikov:
We’re in the midst of a negotiation with him. He changed agents a week ago. There will be some time to play that out. But, definitely, that has been the plan all along, on both sides. We’re confident that something will get done. There was a lot going on the past three or four days. We didn’t feel, right from day one, that today was a pressure point in that aspect. We’ll continue those talks with him.
[ed. note: More from Blake can be seen in the video below — he discusses Jordan Spence’s future, Alex Turcotte, Alex Laferriere, Sammy Helenius, Erik Portillo, power play woes, LA’s home vs. road record, contracts with deferred money, taxes in California.]
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