Few teams are lucky enough to have two first-ballot hall-of-fame players come through in the same generation.
That's exactly what the Kings have had since 2008 when they took Drew Doughty second-overall. He joined Anze Koptiar on an up-and-coming Kings roster that dominated the league from 2012-2014.
Kopitar was the second-best center in hockey and Doughty was arguably the best defensemen in the league.
One of Dean Lombardi's greatest strengths was recognizing the gift he had in those two and his willingness to go all-in while he had that gift.
However, that was ten years ago. This isn't two first-ballot hall-of-fame players in their prime anymore, it's two first-ballot hall-of-fame players in the twilight of their careers.
Trying to chase another Stanley Cup with those two has been the downfall of Rob Blake, an the Kings' front office the last few seasons and they need to correct that mistake soon.
In their exit interviews, Doughty and Kopitar both stated that they wouldn't be interesting in this team re-tooling. Kopitar pointed out that he likely only has two years left in his career and doesn't want to spend them in a re-tool.
As they should, neither player should want to rebuild. But the Kings can't make their decisions based on what Doughty and Kopitar want.
After the shortened 2020-21 season, Doughty made very direct comments about wanting to compete in the playoffs again and wanting to be done with rebuilding.
The front office responded by adding veteran talent in Phil Danault and Viktor Arvidsson.
It seems like they bent to the will of their two franchise legends, but that can't continue.
The Kings don't need to tear things down to the foundation again, but they can't continue mortgaging their future on these two either. No more trading prospects or first-round picks to chase a Cup win that isn't there.
The damage has likely been done for the next few seasons. They'll be relying on Pierre-Luc Dubois bouncing back, another big step up from Quinton Byfield and likely another season of budget goaltending to take them deeper into the playoffs next seasons.
These aren't impossible things, but that's a lot of ifs to gamble on.
They've already allowed Doughty and Kopitar's timeline to impact their "rebuild" that started in 2019 and now is not the time to double down.
This will be a crucial summer for both the short, and medium-term future of the organization and they can't let the desire of two players dictate their decisions.
They have to do what is best for the Kings, not for their two legends.