LA Kings: Top five Stanley Cup-contention trades
By Ryan Cowley
The top five trades that propelled the LA Kings to two Stanley Cups
When Dean Lombardi took over as the LA Kings‘ general manager in June 2006, he had inherited a team with their work cut out for them.
With the exception of the 1993 Stanley Cup Final, the LA Kings never had a deep playoff run. But the Kings weren’t even close to being a playoff team in 2006.
Marred with failed rebuilds in the past, the Kings’ track record was not an auspicious one. Lombardi, however, was unfazed as he made a series of moves that helped the Kings contend not only for the playoffs but for a championship before ultimately winning hockey’s Holy Grail.
Among the moves Lombardi made were five pivotal trades that helped shape the fortunes of the once-hapless LA Kings.
Here they are: