Lombardi: Cammalleri regrets? Not really

What will be great is... Toronto won't sign him. He is NOT a Brian Burke player - and they already have J.Blake - Detroit won't have any cap room, so Cammalleri will wind up in Atlanta or Florida.

Where does he want to go? The Habs? or Detroit?

i agree with CBGB, Cammi's style wont fit with burke... what's important is that we got Teubert, maybe not enough but definately not dissapointing. Damn Kovalchuk would look good in our uni... Boyle, moulson, and Zatkoff? 2nd rounder? signed before trade? works for me...

toronto...here he comes???

cammy is looking more like a gun for hire...i know he's going to get a nice long-term deal where ever he lands...and then when year three of that long-term deal comes around, that team will be kicking themselves as to why did they sign him and how can they get rid of him...

i watch cammy and the flames a lot on center ice...he's as gifted a goal scorer as they come when he plants himself inside the slot or near the net on the power play...but that's about it...he doesn't play defense very well and usually is the trailing forward back to his own zone...the dynamic he has in calgary is great...i hope for his sake he can find a similar situation with the contract terms he's going to want...

and if the maple leafs want him, today might be a good day as any (at the time of this writing, the leafs are down 3-0 at home vs. buffalo...and buffalo is not atlanta)...

I am out the loop is it still the Leafs????

OH It is the leafs....hehehehe

Bunch of baloney. Where does he want to go Dean? It's all just speculation.

Mike Cammalleri is a winner. He wants to win. He also wants respect. Every single year it's "too small, scores meaningless goals, selfish player etc." And year after year he puts up points. He scores goals. No matter what team he plays for. That's his job.

I know the anti-cammalleri crusade will be in here and say he wanted 6 or 7 million.
I'm sure Mike was hoping for a little more than the 3.5 he got. But It's called negotiations, people. Its just bargaining. What Did Dean offer? 2 million?

This off season he'll be awarded his 4 or 5 he wanted...and deservedly so.

We could use a goal scorer like him.

By the way, is it the Ducks? or Kansas City?

I kind of don't understand Lombardi when he said ``I wasn't trading a 20-goal scorer. I was a little surprised I didn't get a little more action on him, but I think the reason was that he's a one-year asset..." I thought that Lombardi was able to offer Cammalleri a 2 year deal through arbitration but chose 1? If he gave him 2 years he could have gotten more out of the deal but I guess signing him for 1 year and getting a nice draft pick out of it and letting the next team deal with him was a better choice.

Cammeleri is a selfish player...everyone knows that.

>>>>Tim Chaney

"Boyle, moulson, and Zatkoff? 2nd rounder?"

Maybe you should go back and read the part of the interview where DL talks about how Boyle and Moulson couldn't cut it in the NHL. They're both overaged at about 23 years old, Zatkoff is a *solid* goalie prospect, but Atlanta is pretty strong there, and a 2nd rounder is a 2nd rounder.

You want to trade that grab-bag of MEH for the highest goal scorer in the NHL since the year he came into the league? Yeah me too - but despite rumors to the contrary, Waddell isn't a raving lunatic bent on destroying the Thrashers franchise and his reputation. Seriously.

You *might* be able to get Joffrey Lupul for what your proposed.

If Cammy were still on this team we would be in the playoffs plain an simple. Dean Lombardi need to start thinking about the team and not his GIANT EGO! why did Frolov, Brown, and Kopitar deserve long term deals and he didnt? All he wanted was a long term deal and hes going to get it and to top it all off, he will be in the playoffs. I respect what dean has done for this team but I think the Cammy trade was one of the worst trades in Kings history.

I have no regrets with trading him either.

Mark,

He did sign him to 2 years. He is in the second year of that contract.

We did give him a 2 year deal.

How many times did the Kings make the playoffs with Cammy here? Oh, that's right zero.

David -

Cammy didn't want a long term deal, he wanted $6 million per year after he only scored 34 goals....see ya!! Best trade ever!!!

David, re-read it again!

"I don't think it's any secret where he really wants to go, so what do I want that problem for?''

We all knew, especially DL that Cammy wasn't going to re-sign with the Kings and had to trade him. Also, under Murrays new defense 1st system, his game would have suffered the most. You think he was frustrated last year, he'd have just melted down this season. He'd probably have about 12 goals.You want to talk about GIANT EGOS, ask the guy currently play out his contract in Calgary.

David-

Guarentee? Pipe dreams. We all know Cammy is a goal scorer. but the fact still remains that he didn't plan on re-signing in LA and DL did what was best for our future and not just for Cammy.

Again, I've got to agree with DL and the rest of the bloggers on this one....

For starters, Cammi had absolutely no intention of resigning with LA. Evidently he didn't appreciate the arbitration process which by the collective bargining agreement he was subject to. When the arbitrator ruled against Cammi (no surprise), he pouted and essentially made it very clear that he had no intention of resigning with the Kings. Cammi went through the motions in the first year of his new contract and that was about it. In my opinion, he wasn't worth the 3 mil he ended up playing for and the other GM's knew it. DL knew going into the draft he had to trade Cammi or else risk getting nothing in return. The trade was an excellent one for the Kings.

Talented? You bet. But holding DL and the Kings hostage for a 5-6 mil a year contract when he had accomplished essentially nothing in his career? Are you kidding me??? When DL had that opportunity to take that No. 12 first rounder he was on it, especially when the other GM's weren't even calling to inquire about Cammi's services and DL was about to lose an asset without getting anything in return.

I'm not much into players that think they're bigger or better than the team they play for or the game. Both Cammi and Blake struck me as the same, in it for themselves and not the team. I'd rather pay to see the kids playing from the heart for the good of their team and lose than seeing a bunch of rich athletes playing for themselves and the all mighty dollar.

Like DL said, now he's Calgary's problem. Even tho the Flames are winning and Cammi is playing with a great team and Ignila, do you think that's going to be enough to keep him happy in Calgary? Don't bet on it.

Maybe Lombardi could have done a better job of convincing Cammelleri that his talents were valued and that the Kings were serious about turning it around.
I can't say I blame Cammalleri for asking for the Moon. All players do.
Perhaps Lombardi just doesn't really understand certain types of people.
He seems to only be able to read the guys who wear their heart on their sleeve.
I like those players too, but sometimes quiet people are very misunderstood - like Frolov.

It's just strange that we've lost Visnovsky and Cammalleri, it seems as though Boyle is headed out the door, and there's constant speculation that Frolov isn't a part of the "core." What is it about these over-achievers that Lombardi doesn't like?

etr... cammi can't play defense. period. he would not have made it this year. it was a great trade for toughness on d acquiring teubert. vis was a great king. but we got matt greene, a tough stay at home d-man and stoll, a solid 2/3 centerman. vis was on his way out with doughty and hickey coming in.

Cammelleri is also bad in the locker room. That and the constant contract problems got him traded.

i agree cammi needed to go, but even if he only had 20 goals with the kings at this point of the season, it would of helped a lot more in the standings than Calders 7 goals.

on a more serious note, don't you think we could have gotten a lot more for cammi this season at the trade deadline?

Even if it is for a rent-a-player, it seems to me like teams are a lot more likely to over pay at the final trade deadline of the season.

Bad in the room, selfish and a head case all fit Cammi to a tee. We do not need him....PERIOD !

Squid is what he is.

He's talented, but a me first type of player. Lombardi did not want that around his team, and I personally have no problem with that.

This isn't baseball, this isn't the Dodgers or the Yankees...this is an actual TEAM game. He was NOT a popular man on the team, and this was no secret. He did not get along with many of the players on the team, the CORE of this team...so I don't care if he scores 100 goals every season, get rid of him.

Didn't Dean get the pick he used for Teubert for Cammy? That might be a HUGE deal in the next couple of years for the Kings if Teubert is anything like he's expected to be.

From what I understand Cammy wanted to be here but his dad is his agend and Cammy doesn't have the balls to man up to the old man and tell him to do what he wants.

I could be wrong but a friend knows him and that's what she told me.

Mrbrett.

Bernie Nichols scored a ton and was supposedly selfish...how many Cups did he win in LA? How many elsewhere?

BTW - your opinions on Frolov I don't agree with at all. He and Cammy were the two bright spots on this club until Kopi arrived and Brown put it together.
But I guess you don't like COMPETITORS - cuz that's exactly what Cammy and Frolov are...

"Cammelleri is also bad in the locker room. That and the constant contract problems got him traded."

Now, I just want to point out to people who seem to have no memory at all, prior to arbitration and things going sour, Cammi was considered the next captain of this team, a character guy, a team leader, and a clear cut winner. Just want to point that out.

I think the big knock on Cammi is that he wanted to be paid. Probably much more than he reasonably deserved, but the only issue is he wanted money.

I can't blame a professional for wanting to be compensated. I can certainly think it's a good idea declining on his services if it doesn't make sense to pay as much as he wants, but I can't think poorly of him for it.

I'm going to side with the team for making the decision they did to move him because they didn't want to pay him and instead spend the money on other players (Kopitar, Johnson, etc.), but I'm certainly not going to villify Cammi because of that.

Seems way too often for my taste fans can see moves that organizations make as being about business, but can't see anything a player does as anything but personal.