Rob Blake and the Kings: A Complicated Story of Frenemies
Rob Blake is one of the best players in Los Angeles Kings history. Full stop. Yes, I intentionally avoided the word “greatest” because greatness, like his story, is complex.
He’s a Norris Trophy winner, a Hall of Famer, a Stanley Cup champion (just, you know... not with the Kings), and the rare type of dude who starred for a team and later helped run it. If you grew up watching the Kings in the ’90s, chances are you tried to copy his slapshot in the driveway or at least hip-checked your sibling onto the nearest sofa.
But for all the on-ice brilliance, Blake’s relationship with the Kings has always felt a bit off. The kind of partnership where people say, “It’s complicated,” and really mean it. It’s even been labeled as “toxic”. Between two high-profile exits as a player and a front-office tenure that ranged from promising to, “please put us out of our misery”, his legacy in LA is hard to pin down neatly.
It’s a little love, a little hate—and a TON of gray area in between.
“C” You Later
Blake joined the Kings in 1989, and by the time the late ’90s rolled around, he was THE guy. Wayne Gretzky had been traded to St. Louis for what could only be described as a mind-numbing return, and Bruce McNall was being fitted for the finest orange jumpsuit that the Boron federal prison had to offer. The glory days were over. It was now Rob Blake’s team. He won the Norris Trophy in 1998, wore the "C" for years, and was everything you’d want in a franchise defenseman. By 2001, the Kings had crawled through the abyss and found some modicum of success and stability—new arena, New owners, new uniforms. It felt like they were on the uptick. So naturally, that’s when things went to hell.
Blake was a pending Unrestricted Free Agent, due to cash in BIG at the end of the 2001 season. Chris Pronger had just signed a massive 3-year, $29 million contract with the St. Louis Blues. Blake and his agent Pat Brisson saw that and started dreaming of their very own Scrooge McDuck vault where Blake could surf on an ocean of gold. He wanted $9.6 million per season and not a penny less. But the Kings and GM Dave Taylor weren’t about that life. Rumor has it that the highest the Kings went was $8.5 million a season.
In a very mature and level-headed response, Blake essentially got big mad and resigned as team captain, stating that he didn’t feel comfortable leading a team that wouldn’t commit to him. Of course, he retracted that request almost immediately when he remembered that he was, indeed, a grown man in a professional sport. But the news broke anyway and Kings fans were HIGHLY pissed.
With Blake’s contract expiring and no new deal in sight, the Kings had a choice: pay big to keep their star or trade him while they could still get something in return. They chose Door No. 2, and Blake was dealt to Colorado at the deadline—just in time to help the Avalanche win a Stanley Cup. The Kings did well in that trade, nabbing Red Wing killer Adam Deadmarsh and the solid+unspectacular Aaron Miller, both of whom helped the Kings win their first playoff series in 8 years that spring.
Sure, the trade made sense from a business standpoint. But emotionally? For fans, it was a gut punch. Watching Blake hoist the Cup in a different uniform was like seeing your ex move on... with someone taller, richer, and more successful.
Depending on who you ask, Blake either forced his way out or got left out in the cold. The truth, as always, lives somewhere in the middle. He DID deserve Pronger money. Taylor DID have the team's best interest at heart.
Oops, He Did it Again
Dean Lombardi brought Blake back to the Kings in 2006 as a veteran leader, trying to help a young, struggling team find its footing. Blake wasn’t the same dominant player, but he still had value—on the ice and in the room. Even off the ice, some Kings fans were warming up to him again as he helped along the next wave of Kings stars—notably Anze Kopitar. Things were mostly fine… a perfect time to burn any remaining good faith down to the ground!
In 2008, Another contract dispute. Another parting of ways.
Here’s an excerpt from former LA Kings Insider, Rich Hammond on the contract negotiations:
Lombardi declined to confirm particulars of the offer, but did confirm that he received a non-negotiable offer from Brisson at 9:05 a.m. Tuesday. “(Brisson) told me we had to hurry,” Lombardi said. “I told him we had to look at a number of things to make this fit. We were looking at other players and certain deals. I said, `We’re not prepared to commit that type of money. We want to look at all our options but we want to bring him back.”‘
Lombardi said he spoke to Blake on Tuesday night and exchanged e-mails with Brisson on Wednesday, but Lombardi said he was all but convinced Tuesday night that Blake wouldn’t return.
“(Blake) was honest (Tuesday). He said, `I don’t think I can wait,”‘ Lombardi said. “I knew San Jose had been talking to him. I was thinking of making a conditional offer … but it was clear it wasn’t negotiable.”
Bro did it AGAIN. Leaving once? Whatever. Twice? Not cool. But joining the Sharks? That was basically flipping off the fanbase while wearing teal.
Okay, in fairness, it wasn’t as dramatic as it looked (or as I just made it). Blake wanted to keep playing, the Kings didn’t offer what he wanted, and San Jose did. Still, the optics weren’t good—and they added another wrinkle to his already tangled reputation in LA.
Welcome Home, I Guess
After retiring, Blake eventually returned to the Kings again. Seriously, this guy got more second chances than a coach’s kid who refuses to backcheck. In 2013, he became assistant GM under Dean Lombardi and played a behind-the-scenes role during the team’s second run to the Stanley Cup.
It was a quieter period for Blake—no contract standoffs, no trades, no drama. Just a guy trying to learn the ropes and help.
You know where this is going, right?
Generally Managing
After 11 years of mostly exemplary work that included two Stanley Cups and three consecutive Conference Final appearances, Dean Lombardi was fired in 2017. Sure, things hadn’t been great for a couple of years, but it was still a bit surprising to learn how short his leash was. At the helm now? Your old pals Lucky and Blakey.
When Blake took over as GM, the Kings were in a weird spot. The core that had won two Cups—Kopitar, Doughty, Quick—was still present, but clearly aging. The prospect pool was thin. The cap situation was ugly. It was like inheriting a house that still looked okay on the outside but had a shoddy roofing, outdated plumbing, and a weird smell you couldn’t get rid of.
Blake didn’t blow it all up. He took a more unorthodox approach: sort of build through the draft, kind of get younger, and acquire some vets to stay competitive enough to avoid a full teardown. It’s unclear if this was a Blake plan, a Robitaille plan, or an ownership plan. In any case, Blake’s GM tenure will really be defined by three points:
Signing Cal Petersen to a 3-year, $15 million contract
Trading for and signing Pierre-Luc Dubois
The Edmonton Oilers
It’s hard to argue that these three things made Rob Blake an unsuccessful General Manager. But there were wins, too—like drafting Quinton Byfield, trading for Kevin Fiala, signing Phillip Danault, and slowly piecing together a respectable supporting cast around the veterans. To be clear, these are wins in a vacuum. Whether or not some of his successful moves should’ve even been considered in the first place is a different (and likely fruitless) conversation.
It’s always the good and bad with Blake. The “BUT”. The Kings made the playoffs in 5 of the 8 years of his tenure, BUT they couldn’t win a single series. He drafted Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke, BUT he also drafted Tobias Bjornfot and Rasmus Kupari. He got aggressive about improving the team, BUT it cost them Brock Faber and Gabe Vilardi. He made the Kings a good team, BUT never good enough.
Blake’s Legacy
On May 5th, 2025, the Kings announced that Rob Blake would not be returning as the teams General Manager, calling it a “mutual parting of ways”. His front office tenure with the Kings, much like his on-ice tenure, is an emotional mixed bag. Part of the fanbase is ecstatic while others view it as a bittersweet ending. Some even feel that Blake has “quit on the Kings” yet again.
Ultimately, Blake is likely done with the LA Kings. I say “likely” because the man has an uncanny ability to resurface. He is a franchise legend. He’s also a franchise lightning rod.
There’s no denying the impact he had—on the ice, in the front office, and in the fan psyche. But his time with the Kings wasn’t a neat, feel-good arc. It was more like a long, complicated marriage: full of highs, heartbreaks, quiet stretches, and arguments about money.
Some fans will never quite forgive the trades or the exits. Others will remember the Norris year and the highlights of him destroying players with his ass. Some folks will even call him one of the better General Managers in club history.
The reality? Blake’s legacy isn’t either/or. It’s both. And that’s exactly what makes it a damn fine story.
