from Elliott Teaford of the LA Daily News,
Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said Friday he made a “very fair” offer to Darryl Sutter to return as the team’s coach for next season and beyond, but no agreement has been reached.
Lombardi said money is not the issue, but the direction of the team is.
“Darryl has an offer on the table,” Lombardi said. “I think there’s an offer that’s certainly respectable. I don’t think this is about money. It’s, are we ready to do this? That issue of where we’re going and where we are is always out there. It’s a different challenge.
“You want to hear what our game plan is. It’s not different than when I first hired him.”
Lombardi broke his two-week silence following the Kings’ first-round Stanley Cup playoff exit April 22, holding a conference call with reporters that lasted about 30 minutes before the line abruptly went dead. A team spokesman emailed later to say technical difficulties were to blame.
Sutter’s return to the Kings was one of several topics Lombardi covered in a series of lengthy responses that involved streams of thought that had no real beginning or end, but were wrapped in layers that took a good bit of unraveling before their meaning became clear.
Lombardi said he was farther along in talks on a new contract with left wing Milan Lucic than with the Kings’ other free agents. He called Lucic “a great kid” and said there was “no question he’s a great fit” before adding “that’s all I can say right now.”
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