Retaining coach darryl sutter and forward milan lucic tops kings gm dean lombardi's off-season agenda

The Kings are waiting for a response after having made what was described as a “very fair” contract offer to their two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach, Darryl Sutter, and continue to work

toward signing forward Milan Lucic to an agreement before he hits free agency on July 1. The offer to Sutter is believed to be for two years plus an option year. A bit of clarity emerged

about the organization’s direction as Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi spoke to the media for the first time since his club was eliminated two weeks ago in the first round of the NHL

playoffs. Lombardi on Friday described the five-game loss to the San Jose Sharks as a “punch in the gut.” Since winning the Stanley Cup in 2014, the Kings have missed the playoffs and lost

in the opening round. Lombardi, who has spent the last two weeks immersed in meetings, went beyond his usual season-ending soul-searching Friday, admitting that, to a certain degree, the

Kings got “a little full of ourselves” after the Stanley Cup successes in 2012 and 2014, and the organization stagnated. “You can’t approach things, ‘This worked in the past, all we have to

do is go back and do it this way again and we’ll recapture it.’ This season clearly demonstrated that’s not the case and there’s a reason why,” Lombardi said on a conference call. “Your

players are different, your economic chemistry is different. Your spiritual chemistry is different and you stop striving to take the next step. . . . I had this premonition coming before the

playoffs and I could see it. You could see it within every part of the organization. ”. . . Now once again, failure is the best teacher. We have to get back on that path, the innovation,

the spark, the challenge that was there seven years ago when we were coming from the gutter. You’ve got to get it back.” At the top of Lombardi’s to-do list is re-signing Sutter, who has not

spoken to the media since the night of the Kings’ first-round exit and is without a contract for next season. Sutter is 186-112-45 since replacing Terry Murray as head coach on Dec. 20,

2011. In addition, the Kings are 42-27 in the playoffs under Sutter, have won the Stanley Cup twice, and made it the Western Conference finals in 2013. Sutter is considered one of the NHL’s

best bench coaches and — along with assistants John Stevens, Davis Payne and Bill Ranford — has the Kings near the top of the league in possession stats, a key measure in assessing

performance in the modern-day NHL. Almost certainly, Sutter will be obliged to play a younger lineup next season, given the team’s salary-cap challenges. But he and his family appear to

enjoy life in Southern California, and his son Chris is a fixture at most home games. Indications are that Sutter, 57, likes the personal and professional fit here. “Yes, that would be my

take,” Lombardi said. “Which is why I’m not concerned, like I said.” Notable coaching deals since Sutter signed his last contract include Mike Babcock’s reported eight-year, $50-million deal

with the Toronto Maple Leafs almost a year ago, and the contract Todd McLellan signed with Edmonton last May for a reported $3 million per year for five years. “I think there’s an offer

that’s certainly respectable,” Lombardi said. “But I don’t think this is about money. I think it is, ‘OK are we ready to do this?’ Because it’s going to be a lot of work. Just like building

it in the past, you had to stick with some tough times. “We’re not going back to there [2007], but make no mistake, we’re going to get this back on track. There’s going to be some minor

punches in the gut, too, as we fight our way through.” For Lombardi and Sutter, the task ahead is slightly different than the one they handled together when they reconnected with the Kings.

They’d previously worked together as a GM/coach tandem in San Jose. “I think it’s safe to say we’re in uncharted waters,” Lombardi said. “When I brought him here, we had great experience

building. We knew what we wanted to do. There’s safety in doing things the same way after you’ve won. . . . Now you have to fix it. That’s a different challenge from what any of us had faced

because we never won before.” FOLLOW LISA DILLMAN ON TWITTER: @REALLISA MORE TO READ