Who cares if Blake could have gotten a 2C. Would it have mattered?
Remember the idea of trading Carter was brought up before he suffered his recent injuries. There would have been plenty of takers, because teams are always looking to add at the deadline for a playoff push.
Exactly, the entire point of a rebuild is to move out aging players for picks and prospects. You are supposed to struggle, you aren't supposed to have ready made replacements step in seamlessly. You step back to grow forward.
The reason Carter is still here is that he was too hurt and unproductive to deal over the past two years. If leadership and/or example setting were the purpose, the Kings would have been far better off retaining Clifford or Lewis.
I like Carter and have always been a fan, but his race has been run. You can see it in his body language. He is constantly talking to opposition goalies in a friendly manner after saves, he doesn't dig in on backchecks anymore, he is on the banquet circuit now and just pleasantly playing out his string. The competitive fire is gone and that isn't a great example for kids.
As far as replacing him, unfortunately Frk has been hurt, but in all honesty you really wouldn't be losing much production from that spot if you had Luff holding that place until a better option is developed.