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The Kings are currently on their longest road trip of the season, an eight game odyssey ending in St. Louis on the 12th… barely two weeks before the February 26th, noon PT trade deadline. Over the past few weeks, Kings have been run liberally through the rumor mill, with new names seemingly added every day. So there are a lot of questions surrounding the team, and the group that returns home in mid-February may not be the one that left at the end of January.

For weeks several sources have been stating that Rob Blake will waive his no-trade clause given the right opportunity. If Blake does indeed leave the Kings for greener pastures, the next question is whether or not he’d end up returning in the offseason for another go in L.A. (see Tkuchuk, Keith and Weight, Doug for examples of this phenomenon). At 38, it seems like Blake’s hockey career is coming to a close, but then again, we all said that about Chris Chelios when he was 38, and at 46 the Detroit blueliner is still going strong. Whatever he decides to do, for the sake of Kings fans and hockey in general, hopefully Blake will do it early, as opposed to waiting until the midway point of ‘08-’09 season.

Blake isn’t the only Kings defenseman who could find himself on the trading block. Jaroslav Modry, Brad Stuart, and Tom Preissing are all right there with him. Trading Modry and/or Preissing wouldn’t have much impact on the Kings. But if Stuart continues to play like a beast, as he did in the 3-1 win over the Ducks on January 24th, it may be worth keeping him around in the event that Stuart is finally jelling with the team. After all, he’s still only 28, has played some big moments with San Jose, and still has a lot of potential. To see Dean Lombardi move him would be a little surprising.

It’s also probably not all that necessary. The Kings are stocked with picks in the 2008 draft, and while there’s always surplus to be built for ’09, Lombardi shouldn’t forget that with two “rebuilding” seasons under his belt, it wouldn’t hurt to construct a team that can compete with the rest of the league next season, and not in, say, 2011. Or (gulp) even later.

Interested in deals involving forwards? Recently the LA Daily News reported Michael Cammalleri could be dealt, because the plucky little left wing and the Kings went through arbitration this summer, and the result wasn’t quite what Cammalleri wanted.

However, there’s no rush. Cammalleri is signed through the 2008-2009 season, and if the Kings feel they won’t be able to re-sign him down the road, they have a year to figure out what to do about it. Then, there’s the rib injury that has kept Cammalleri on the IR since December 26th. A) Opposing GMs generally don’t line up to acquire guys who aren’t healthy, and B) because he hasn’t been on the ice, Cammalleri hasn’t had a chance to prove to opposing GMs that his streak of 10 goals in 10 games to kick of the season wasn’t just a fluke.

The biggest issue Lombardi is probably facing surrounds what to do when the $477,500 rookie outperforms the $3.75 million man. I know the answer, Dean! Buy all the GMs multiple rounds of drinks in hopes of convincing one of them to agree to a deal with Ladislav Nagy.

The winger has been too inconsistent this season to be re-signed and since his contract is up in a couple months it would be best if the Kings could get something in return, even if it’s just a rental player and/or draft pick.

The kicker to moving Nagy? More time for a player the Kings need to get into the lineup more often. That would be Matt Moulson, the aforementioned 477K wunderkind, who is on his fourth tour from Manchester this season. Usually when Monarchs are called up, they don’t have an immediate impact with the Kings. Instead, they toil around on the checking line trying to connect one or two good hits to impress the coach. If, by some random chance, they are placed on a different line with more responsibilities, it’s hard to expect big contributions while knowing they may only have a handful of games to prove themselves.

But the Cornell University graduate and Quill and Dagger member- not a resume feature of the average NHLer- has played exceptionally well every time he’s been called up. Moulson routinely plays on a line with Alexander Frolov and has essentially replaced Nagy, currently out of the lineup with a sore neck. With the Kings well, and I mean well, out of the playoff hunt, now is the time to let qualified players like Moulson, an RFA this offseason that Lombardi can’t let get away- have their shot at playing in the big league.

Last season Patrick O’Sullivan was the recipient of an extended stay with the Kings at the halfway point of a pitiful season. The payoff came this year when he blew fans away with his much improved play. This year it should be Moulson who gets that chance. He has shown that he can play successfully in the NHL and can only improve by gaining the experience of playing at a higher level and further developing chemistry with his linemates.

It sucks to be looking that far ahead on February 1st, but if ’08-’09 is going to be a good one, this is the sort of thing the Kings need to do.

MS

Marie Stiles hosts Purple Crushed Velvet, and also contributes to HLOG. She’s an L.A. native, and a bigger Kings fan than you.

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