There hasn't been an official announcement on the matter, but Rob Blake's meeting with the media on Monday suggests that he will be back as general manager of the Los Angeles Kings next season.
If Blake is coming back, it's likely the front office as a whole is remaining intact. Luc Robitaille, Marc Bergevin, etc will likely all be back.
Interestingly, there has been no word on interim head coach Jim Hiller's availability, but more on that later.
I've made my opinions known on this, I think it's a mistake. There's been too many mistakes and the organization's front office has been treated as an old boys club for too long.
Circling back to Hiller's status, this also gives Blake, who has just one year left on his contract, to hire yet another coach.
Allowing what could be a lame-duck GM to hire another coach, who will likely sign more than a one-year deal, is less than ideal.
Now, a good organization would have a strong succession plan in place for Blake if the rumors that he's likely done after this season regardless of the outcome are true.
An organizational hire that's made to meet a larger philosophy that will outlive Blake makes sense.
However, the rumor is that Bergevin is in place to take over after Blake. That's not a strong succession plan, that's thrusting the Kings into more of the same issues.
Jumping off of that, allowing this front office to continue shaping this roster, and potentially trading more future assets to chase a run that isn't there.
It's unlikely the Kings trade another first-round pick this summer. Still, this front office has shown an inability to develop one of the league's top prospect pools, mainly by trading away prospects or blocking their development, and that will likely continue next season.
They've also put themselves into a tough spot with their cap. Yes, they get some savings from Anze Kopitar's pay cut and the cap limit will go up, but it's still going to be tight for the next season.
After re-signing Quinton Byfield and Jordan Spence, and either re-signing or replacing Viktor Arvidsson and Matt Roy, the Kings won't be flush with cap.
Even if they replace Roy and Arvidsson internally, they don't have any goalies with NHL experience signed for next season. With a weak free-agent class of goalies and minimal tradeable assets, the Kings are likely looking at another year of bargain bin shopping in net.
Of course, it's not all bad. There are still some pieces to be excited about if they make a few good moves and get a few good breaks.
Byfield took a massive step up in his development and with another step, he'll be a true superstar in the league.
Pierre-Luc Dubois can't get much worse and with better usage could have a bounce-back season.
If they give Brandt Clarke a legitimate role he could flourish and there are a few other players like Alex Turcotte and Akil Thomas you can say the same about.
Some of that is offset by the goalie situation, the always-looming possibility that father time fully catches up with either Kopitar or Drew Doughty, and the likelihood that Trevor Moore's goalscoring takes a step back.
But you can see a path to a better season or the Kings, it just relies on a lot of ifs.
This has to be a last stab at things for this front office, but ownership has shown plenty of patience with them, now we'll have to wait and see if that is a wise decision.