Quotes: Kings GM Lombardi on Schenn, Kopitar and the Trade

“I think we’re going to see how it works. It kind of gives you flexibility. You’re dealing with a 26 year old. I think there’s still some upside in this kid. There are a lot of similarities between him and Greener. I think the important thing right now is just to come in, fit in, do your role and then go from there. We’ll see how it plays out, but in terms of the element he brings, with our top-four guys, I think he could be a valuable asset to the overall mix.”

Lombardi on any update with regards to Anze Kopitar’s situation, and how much of their future hinges on it.

“We’re still working on that. The building part, I guess you can say it hinges, because like I was just alluding to, we’ve got to see how this plays out. Vinny, certainly if he didn’t agree to make his intentions clear, then certainly we wouldn’t have done this because of what you’re citing. So it figures, certainly, in the way this deal was structured, because you are looking at, 12 months from now or whatever it is, we wouldn’t have the luxury of having the room, even if we wanted to. So that’s how it plays into it.”

Lombardi didn’t want to wait on a deal.

“That’s the other thing I wanted to do. I didn’t want to wait on this. The thing about this is, the price is certainly reasonable, I’m not locked into next year and I think it’s important that we pulled this as soon as possible, to get them into the fabric of the team. I didn’t want to wait. This is something, we looked at these as potential holes or potential areas to get better. It’s important, particularly the way this team is — it’s a very tight team — and it allows them to get in here and have a longer feeling-out process and get comfortable. Then if it doesn’t work, you’re still in position, in March when the deadline is, to maybe make an adjustment. So part of this, going forward, when I was talking to Philly I said, `If we’re going to do something like this, if I’m going to take a Vinny, I have to have him now, because there is going to be a break-in period for him as well as Luke.’ Luke is going to have a different role here. I thought the timing of this was fairly important to me, to try to get this done early, versus let it drag on and drag on. Hex and I have been at this for two or three weeks and he knows all my tactics, so it’s like negotiating with myself. It’s like looking at myself in the mirror. It’s why he beat me up.”