As a Hall of Fame defenseman, Rob Blake lined up opposite prolific scorers like Joe Sakic and Steve Yzerman, often tasked with guarding the unguardable.
As he has followed in their footsteps as an executive, he has, at times, had to defend the indefensible.
Massive misfires like Ilya Kovalchuk, Cal Petersen and Pierre-Luc Dubois have tainted his tenure, one that has also now seen four different head coaches in the span of six campaigns.
In his most forthright address this season, Blake said Monday that he lamented having to dismiss now-former coach Todd McLellan. But he expressed little if any remorse over the offseason moves that seemed to ultimately derail the Kings’ campaign after a sound start and cost McLellan his job.
Blake also acknowledged that, as the Kings (23-15-10, 56 points) cling to dear life in a season when they were supposed to thrive, his own employment might well be on the line.
“It’s my responsibility. I hired Todd. It was my responsibility to let him go the other day,” Blake said. “And I fully understand the repercussions if this team does not win or have success.”
McLellan had made linear progress across his four full seasons as head coach, catapulting the Kings out of the sort of rebuild that other one-time Western Conference powerhouses like the Ducks, San Jose Sharks and Chicago Blackhawks were still very much enduring. He followed 2021-22’s campaign of 99 points with a 104-point effort last year, which was one point shy of the best single-season total in franchise history, achieved in 1975.
Yet this offseason, Blake and his staff sliced and diced the roster: they pumped out seven players, two draft picks and retained significant salary. It was all an effort to re-sign the steady and dependable Vladislav Gavrikov for just two years and lock down the red-flag-laden Dubois for eight seasons, seven of which will carry some form of a no-trade clause, at what’s proven an extortionate $8.5 million annual average…
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