Do you forget that he had a youthful team in LA prior to them winning their cups? And then he actually went for it and made the necessary acquisitions to get them over that hump. LA always seemed to be in on every big name player who was available. And there’s a price to build that kind of team. They’re in a spot now where they need to rebuild. That’s fine. If we have to rebuild again after winning 2 cups, I’ll take it.
Sorry for the delay, I didn’t have time when I first saw your post, but as a result of it I've now taken a long look at the signings I've really disliked on the Kings, which resulted in my opinion of Lombardi improving.
Some of the higher salaries on the Kings were on contracts Lombardi negotiated before the Kings last won the Cup. For the most part they weren’t terrible contracts and, as you point out, they did put the Kings over the top.
Something I had missed was that some of the Kings' moves which I really think terrible were made after Lombardi was fired from the Kings. Those include:
-the trade for Dion Phaneuf
-the upcoming Drew Doughty contract.
I am a big fan of Doughty and consider him someone who has to be considered most years for the Norris, but I am not a fan of his upcoming contract nor do I think a bad Kings team is a good fit for that contract. I'd attributed that contract, incorrectly, to Lombardi. Similarly Phaneuf being with the Kings has nothing to do with Lombardi.
Imo the Matt Greene contract was a mistake, in that he was coming off an injury-plagued season when he was last extended. It's not very big in the grand scheme of things and I don't have a vivid memory of the circumstances of his injuries.
Most fans probably liked the Kopitar contract. I'm not among them. Kopitar is also someone I’ve been a huge fan of and was really disappointed the Canucks didn’t draft him when I thought he was the completely obvious choice. His current contract was negotiated with Lombardi a year and a half after the Kings last won the Cup, during which the Kings had missed the playoffs one season and would eventually lose in the first round in the season of the signing. The Kings were still pretty good those two seasons, though, 95 and 102 points respectively. The contract pays him $10 million per season through the age of 36.
They've been worse since the contract was signed and Kopitar has really only been worth his contract in one of the following three seasons.
I dislike the Kopitar contract, but it is hard to find too much fault with a GM when the worst I can really say is that he committed too much and too long to his best forward as the player was coming out of the usual prime age AFTER winning two Cups with him, while his team still looked pretty good and while the player was still among the best on the team, he must have done pretty well.