Scouting And Development Are Cornerstones to Dean Lombardi's Efforts

(Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images)

“Our only [defenseman] prospect there when I got here was Richard Petiot,” added Lombardi. “Now we have four or five down there and obviously, we’re young up here too.”

Lombardi may have also found a late-round gem in Loktionov (photo at left, courtesy Ontario Hockey League), who won the Memorial Cup (championship of Canadian junior hockey) this past season with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League.

“Loktionov...this is a classic case where he might’ve been ready for the American league, but probably not,” said Lombardi. “But the biggest thing I loved about Loktionov, I knew he was going to a good junior team and it was the perfect place for him to get acclimated.

"This is the thing, even with Voynov, that you always go through with the Russians. They have to learn the language, they have to learn to be a teammate and they have to learn the North America culture and psyche.”

“Windsor...we knew they were going to have a good team and with [former Kings winger] Warren Rychel and Bob Boughner and the program they run there, you will become North American-ized in a hurry if you can last there,” added Lombardi.

Despite some early season struggles, Loktionov responded well.

“To see him grow, to see him early in the year—I’d go there, he was barely speaking the language, wasn’t smiling much, it was a whole new change for him,” Lombardi explained. “He had some bad habits on the ice, wasn’t always being a teammate, he was showing some selfish things with the puck. But they broke him.”

“I remember I went in there three times and each time, not only was I seeing him physically mature like he’s growing right in front of you, but his whole body language, how he conducted himself on the ice, how he was off the ice, interacting with people, laughing and smiling and then going out and winning that Memorial Cup is huge,” Lombardi added. “I remember we were talking to him during the Memorial Cup, ‘this is big. This is the biggest tournament you will ever play in.’”

“That’s not usually the case for a European. The Memorial Cup is huge in Canada. It’s the prelude to the Stanley Cup. For him to go through that is tremendous for his development and he’s a really talented player.”

Despite selecting him in the fifth round, Lombardi is high on Loktionov.

“If you look in terms of hockey intelligence...his hockey IQ is probably one of the higher ones on our reserve list,” said Lombardi.

“He’s a guy who sees the rink, makes the right play and doesn’t overdo it. Like a lot of Europeans he could probably stand to shoot more. But his understanding of the game is right up there with the top players on our reserve list.”

Lombardi said that Loktionov reminds him of a bit of another Russian player from years gone by.

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