Grrr Kings look like they might actually win today…

…so now it’s a must win for Phoenix and must “tie”/win for Toronto. I want to pick fifth, not sixth. Come on, Sharks!

How Does Burke Get Tavares? | Toronto Sports Media Blog

So what needs to happen for the Leafs to end up in 26th? First, they need Los Angeles to beat San Jose on Saturday afternoon. Then, they need to lose to Ottawa at home a few hours later. Finally, they would need Wayne Gretzky’s Phoenix Coyotes to finish off the season with a victory over the Anaheim Ducks. That’s the trickiest part of the combination, as the Ducks will be playing for their playoff lives. But if all three things happen, the Leafs, Kings and Coyotes would all finish with 79 points. And both L.A. and Phoenix would finish ahead of the Leafs because they would have more wins.Admittedly, this is all a longshot for Brian Burke’s Leafs, who would undoubtedly love to finish off the season with a victory in front of the home fans. But the possibility of still winning the big draft prize should titilate many a member of Leaf nation.”

It’s no guarantee, but it’s a shot right? So what do we do? We get down on hands and knees and pray. Let’s hope, that for the first time in a long time things align for the buds the way we need them to.

via How Does Burke Get Tavares? | Toronto Sports Media Blog.

[UPDATE] Crucial Remaining Games for the Kings

…in the Tavares Sweepstakes, that is.

FLA @ ATL [ATL wins by losing, booo!]

DAL @ COL [DAL loses by winning, yay!]

LOS @ VAN [LA wins by losing, yay!]

PHX @ SJS [PHX loses by winning, yay!]

(Friday)

DAL @ ANA

(Saturday)

SJS @ LOS

OTT @ TOR

TBL @ ATL

ANA @ PHX

STANDINGS

1. NYI

2/3. COL/TBL

—————-

4. ATL (74) – plays FLA and TBL With ATL’s loss, the Kings can’t “catch” them.

5. LOS (77) – plays VAN and SJS

6. PHX (77) – plays SJS and ANA

7. TOR (79) – plays OTT

8. DAL (80) – plays COL and ANA DAL beats COL and now they can’t “catch” the Kings.

Schadenfreude bonus: if Anaheim loses those two games against PHX and DAL, they will likely miss the playoffs, making those two games the most important Kings games in the remaining season.

The lowest the Kings will pick in June is 9th 8th (8th 7th finish and then drop one due to lottery). The highest is #1 (4th or 5th finish plus lottery win). My prediction is the Kings get two points out of the last two games, finishing at 79 [UPDATE: maybe not]; ATL wins one, finishing at 76; PHX wins one, finishing at 77. TOR loses, finishing at 79. DAL wins two, finishing at 84. Kings and Toronto finish tied at 79, but Toronto “wins” (i.e. loses) the tiebreaker (most wins), so the final standings will be: (4)ATL, (5)PHX, (6)TOR, (7)LA, (8)DAL. Kings pick seventh. Anaheim misses the playoffs.

However, it’s not out of the question that the Kings could lose the last two [UPDATE: only one to go!] and end up tied with Phoenix. Kings “win” (i.e. lose) that tiebreaker and would then pick 5th.

[FINAL UPDATE: after tonight's games, the Kings are in "5th," with no possibility of moving up, but a chance they might drop as many as two spots to 7th.]

Edmonton Journal: Hossa? No, sir!

There was never any firm dollar offer on the table, though the Oil’s bidding apparently started at $9 million a year, and could perhaps have gone as high as $100 million over a suitable long, long term.

When Hossa first heard of the Oil’s interest, he had little interest himself, as the Oil haven’t exactly been a powerhouse in recent years, and after his stay in mediocre Atlanta, Hossa had no interest in being the big dog on mediocre team, even if it cost him millions of dollars over the term of his contract.

Katz’s excellent skills of persuasion apparently made Hossa think twice and even thrice about Edmonton, but still he chose elsewhere. He had just finished a happy run to the Stanley Cup finals and wanted more, so he chose the best place for future runs, Detroit.

It’s instructive that Hossa chose Detroit over Pittsburgh, Hossa’s team at the time, and a team loaded with massively talented players in Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and a few other hot shots.

My guess is that Hossa looked hard at two numbers before making his choice: Pittsburgh, $17.4 million and Detroit, $12.7 million. Those numbers represent the combined totals both teams will pay their superstar forwards, who are all on long-term deals now, with Crosby and Malkin both earning $8.7 million a year in Pittsburgh, and Pavel Datsyuk $6.7 million a year and Henrik Zetterberg $6 million a year in Detroit.

Essentially, this gives the Red Wings almost $5 million a year extra in cap space to sign players. It also gives Detroit a huge competitive advantage when it comes to competing for the Stanley Cup.

via Hossa? No sir! – Cult of Hockey .

And this would be why the Kings can’t afford to overpay players like Cammelleri, POS or Frolov, and why Brown’s deal (especially) is so important. Lombardi has to know — because he has all the numbers — that over-paying for one guy means over-paying for everyone when the time comes. 

Of course, I don’t think anyone will be willing to pay Hossa $8-10 million this summer, with the threat of the cap coming down. Which makes it all the more likely he will stay in Detroit. 

In the soon to be pervasive debate about whether the Kings, now basically out of the playoffs, should tank it in order to win the Tavares Cup, or continue to try to win meaningless games, I would argue that the only way a player like Hossa would ever consider signing with the Kings is if DL could make the argument that the Kings are The Team of the Future. That argument will be easier to make if the Kings finish strong, with — say — 85 points.