Colorado had just last season traded for five-time Norris Trophy winner Ray Bourque. But that's what happens when you store up draft picks and prospects. That's what happens when you can afford to spend a little extra money to get the best the league has to offer. That's what happens when you're smart. Good things can also happen to teams that are forced to trade their captain because of economic realties.
Good things can also happen to teams that are smart.
Just ask the Los Angeles Kings. You see, it was the Kings that were forced to trade Blake, the captain who said he should be traded so that the Kings wouldn't end up with nothing. It was the Kings who were left for dead when the trade of Blake and talented youngster Steven Reinprecht left them with a defensive defenseman in Aaron Miller, an injury-prone winger in Adam Deadmarsh and some very nice draft picks with which the team could use to compete for the Stanley Cup in 2007. But a funny thing happened on the way to rebuilding. The Kings decided that maybe it's not just the rich that survive.