King of the Parlay

This is what the Kings were looking for, and why they will announce today that Dean Lombardi is president and general manager.

Lombardi saw an opportunity before the 1998 NHL draft and acted, with a jackpot payoff.

The Nashville Predators, who held the third pick, craved center David Legwand. Problem was, the San Jose Sharks were looking down on them from the second pick.

Lombardi, then the Sharks' general manager, had already decided to draft defenseman Brad Stuart. Lombardi, though, wasn't about to let that piece of information slip out and sent signals that he was interested in Legwand.

The Predators and Sharks swapped first-round picks, but it cost Nashville its second-round pick -- 29th overall. Lombardi used it to draft Jonathan Cheechoo, whose 56 goals led the NHL this season.

Now he has another opportunity.

He replaces Dave Taylor, who was fired Tuesday, one day after the Kings finished a disappointing season.

How good this could be for the Kings was made clear by one who used to work for Lombardi.

"I wish he would have went to the Eastern Conference," said Calgary General Manager and Coach Darryl Sutter, who was the Sharks' coach under Lombardi from 1997 to 2002.

The Kings can only hope Lombardi will be able to mimic at least some of his past success.

The Sharks improved in wins and points in each of Lombardi's first six seasons as general manager -- which included the Pacific Division championship in 2001-02 -- and reached the Stanley Cup playoffs five times. That came crashing down the following season, when holdouts and inconsistency sent the Sharks to the bottom of the division.

Lombardi was fired near the end of that 2002-03 season, partly because of the team's collapse and, according to sources formerly with the Sharks, partly because of constant head-butting with Shark President Greg Jamison -- who later headed a group that bought the franchise.

Lombardi spent this past season as a scout with the Philadelphia Flyers and was a hot commodity for teams looking for a new general manager. He talked with the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders, as well as the Kings.

The Kings offered a bit more power than the Bruins and Islanders seemed willing to give. Lombardi, the son-in-law of former King player and coach Bob Pulford, takes over just as Tim Leiweke, president of AEG -- the Kings' parent company -- has removed himself as the franchise's chief executive.