[Sylvanfan]

I personally think that there is a lot of wishful thinking in this thread.

There might be something to the speculation that two number ones sharing a net could cause a rift. The two were team mates in the World Cup, and IIRC Lombardi was part of the management group on that team. Of course the US results in that tourney were poor, but much of that blame went to the coaching staff and team put in front of the goal tenders.

Budaj did put up good numbers, but that's been somewhat standard for LA goaltenders. Ben Scrivens did too, where is he today? It's not like the rest of the NHL was beating down the door on Peter Budaj to give him a job in the NHL. He was signed as a full time AHL player last year and again for this year. It's not like the Kings are sending him to the AHL, he's going to another team who'll either keep him in the NHL as a backup, or trade him somewhere else that needs one.

The whole treating players right I think is pretty over rated. LA will always offer spectacular weather, and every off ice entertainment option a player could want. The Rangers bury and buyout players all the time...every year they still rate as a top destination for free agents. Tampa Bay and Florida have no state tax etc....These types of teams really don't need to differentiate themselves like some other teams will.

At this point the trade market honestly looks pretty weak for teams trying to find upgrades. LA is obviously taking the approach that they want to try and win more 2-1 games down the stretch and slightly better goaltending might get them what they need to post the 13-7 record that they need to make the playoffs. It might not work, and at this point I think Lombardi and Sutter are a bit desperate to make the playoffs. The Kings have spent a lot of top picks in the past five years to try and be a championship caliber team.