At the beginning of this season, Rob Blake made it very clear that he, and the Los Angeles Kings organization, were comfortable with their roster.

They knew adding to this roster would be nearly impossible at the trade deadline and they were okay with that.

Now, two days before the deadline, it's looking like that might be a mistake.

Blake painted himself into a corner with the Pierre-Luc Dubois trade, removing any cap flexibility they might have had, and now they're feeling the effects of that.

Other contenders are adding significant pieces and the Kings are falling behind more and more.

Potential Round-One Opponents Improving:

If things hold and the Kings finish in the first wild card spot, they'll face whoever finishes with the second-most points in the West.

Right now, that looks like it will be either the Dallas Stars or the Colorado Avalanche.

Both teams were already powerhouses and have both made additions so far.

The Stars added veteran defenseman Chris Tanev, while the Avalanche, essentially, swapped Bowen Byram for Sean Walker and Ryan Johansen for Casey Mittlestadt.

Both are better teams than they were before the trade and have made the gap between them and the Kings even bigger.

Looking at their rosters, would anyone fancy the Kings to escape a round-one matchup against either team? 

If you take off your Kings tinted glasses, probably not. 

The Pacific Division Loading Up:

It's not just the Central Division that's adding players though, the Pacific Division is loading up too.

The Vegas Golden Knights are taking advantage of the Mark Stone LTIR space, adding Anthony Mantha on Tuesday and Noah Hanifin on Wednesday night.

The Edmonton Oilers added Adam Henrique on Wednesday and the Vancouver Canucks already added Elias Lindholm who they might flip for Jake Guentzel.

You have three teams the Kings would come in as underdogs against, one team that's already beaten the Kings two years in a row, all getting noticeably better while the Kings sit idly by.

Of course, they have to, they can't add in the way any of these teams can. They made their bed over the offseason and now they must lie in it.

What they can't do is try and chase what these teams are doing. There isn't an addition they can make at the deadline that will close the gap.

They have to be realistic about what's happening here, they are being left behind by the competition. 

They don't have to sell Matt Roy, although they probably should, but they can't sacrifice more of the future to chase a Cup ring that is out of reach either.

Blake made a mistake last summer with the Dubois trade, but the solution now is not another mistake. Don't turn one bad decision into many.

Being realistic and pragmatic is the move at this year's deadline.