Scouting And Development Are Cornerstones to Dean Lombardi's Efforts

(Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)

With the 2009 National Hockey League Entry Draft beginning tonight in Montreal, the brain trust of the Los Angeles Kings, including President/General Manager Dean Lombardi, are going over their lists with the proverbial fine-toothed comb, projecting who might be available when their turn, the fifth overall selection, comes around, along with what kind of trades might be out there for them to get in on.

But before Frozen Royalty looks ahead to the 2009 draft, let’s take a step back and look at a couple of 2008 Kings draft picks who were big surprises this past season, in more ways than one.

Indeed, defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov (photo at right, courtesy Manchester Monarchs), who was selected in the second round, 32nd overall, and center Andrei Loktionov, a fifth round pick, 123rd overall, were big surprises on a couple of levels.

First off, both are from Russia and last summer, there was a lot of uncertainty about Russian prospects caused by the possbility of them signing with teams in the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia.

If they signed with a KHL team after being drafted, any NHL team that selected them would, in all likelihood, be wasting a draft pick.

That murky situation scared a lot of general managers and pushed many Russian players way down on just about everyone’s lists.

That gave Lombardi and the Kings the opportunity to take advantage, and in Voynov’s case, he was good enough to go straight to the American Hockey League.

“Voynov is another one who’s ahead of schedule,” Lombardi said in a June 13 interview. “I thought he would go back to junior, but he came in and played so well he was ready for the American Hockey League and was one of our better players down there.

"Remember, if Voynov was Canadian, he can’t play in the minors. He would’ve had to go to juniors but because he came from Russia, we had the option of putting him where he was suited in his development.”

“It’s different from [defenseman prospect Thomas] Hickey,” Lombardi elaborated. “He should’ve been in the minors, but that’s about those kids who are caught in between. They have to either play in the NHL or go back to junior.

"That, to me, has always been a flaw in the system. In Hickey’s case, he wasn’t ready [to play for the Kings]. He was ready for the minors, but we couldn’t put him there, so he goes back to junior.”

Conventional wisdom had Voynov ticketed for junior hockey in Canada. Wrong.

“Voynov’s case was different,” said Lombardi. “We were able to make an objective determination on where he was in his development. When we drafted him high in the second round we thought ‘he needs to go to junior.’ But he came right in and showed he was ready for the minors.”

“We put him down there [Manchester Monarchs, of the AHL, the Kings’ primary minor league affiliate] at the beginning of the season and thought, ‘we’ll see if he can handle it and if, after two weeks, he’s in over his head, we’ll send him [to a junior team],’” added Lombardi. “Not only did he hold his own but he was one of our better players.”

Lombardi explained that Voynov should have been gone in the first round.

“If he wasn’t a Russian, remember, there’s always been that little squabble—unclear whether or not these kids will come over and play because of the [KHL], he would’ve went in the first round,” Lombardi noted.

“He [was] there at a high second [round pick]. If he didn’t have that stigma about when Russians are coming over and whether they could get their contracts—all that squabbling was going on and is still going on to some degree whether these kids could get out of their contracts because the Russians were trying to sign all these guys so that they couldn’t go.”

“We’re almost back to the Communist system where you couldn’t get at the guys,” Lombardi explained. “They were trying to get these kids to sign contracts. They put pressure on them, pressure on their families and paid them very good money so you couldn’t get ’em for three or four years.

"Voynov fell into that so there was a risk in taking a Russian. I think on most people’s lists, this kid would’ve been higher.”

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