I asked Lombardi about free agency, and whether these recent trades made it more likely that he would spend more money on the free-agent market this week…

“Obviously we talked about Blakey. That’s a guy who is on the front burner. I do think what I’d like to look at is… I think our forwards are OK. I like the way our forwards stack up. A guy we’re looking at is a defenseman, with decent money, who has to fit with next year and the year after and fit with what we think our young players will become. I will look at a defenseman in that area who fits within the budget and fits with these young players. if that’s not there, we’re just not going to grab anybody. We try not to get somebody in that position. It’s dangerous with young players, to say, `Oh, he’s going to play.’ You like to be in that position on the back end, and have all those young players and say, `There’s a job there but you have to prove to me you’re ready.’ The first step is to try to get a guy who fits within our budget and within the future plan.”