Blake Trade Appears More Likely

A trade involving King captain Rob Blake appeared increasingly likely Thursday, though his destination was much less clear.

A players’ effort to scuttle the deal centered on one thing.

“Win,” Blake’s defense partner Mattias Norstrom said. “Win so many games they can’t trade him.”

Blake was in the lineup when the Kings embarked clumsily on that crusade Thursday night, losing to the Calgary Flames, 3-0, at Staples Center.

Dave Taylor, the Kings’ senior vice president and general manager, responded “no comment” to a question as to whether a deal was close, a departure from his usual outright denial. He also said no contract talks had been scheduled with Blake or his agent, Ron Salcer, and that the Kings remain with three options concerning Blake: sign him, trade him or let him walk away on July 1 as an unrestricted free agent.

“In our opinion, the third option makes the least amount of sense,” Taylor said.

For the first time, Taylor talked about a deal as a foregone conclusion, and probably before the March 15 trade deadline.

“When the trade is made, somebody is coming back the other way and you have to move on,” Taylor said in response to questions about its impact on the team. “Trades are made--and I’m not saying that a trade is going to be made this week, next week or the week after--and regardless of the decision, teams move on. That’s the players’ job.”

Taylor said no team has been given permission to talk with Blake or Salcer about a long-term contract, presumably a precursor to any deal.

“I would think that if it got to that point, teams would want to talk to him, but he’s pretty much indicated that he’s not interested in signing with anyone,” Taylor said.

Stories have come from New Jersey that the Devils and Kings are close to a trade, and a nationally televised report Wednesday night had a deal probably coming within 12 hours.

Coach Andy Murray walked into the weight room at HealthSouth Training Center in El Segundo on Thursday morning and saw Blake alone on an exercise cycle.

“You still here?” Murray asked, and they both laughed.

A couple of hours later, Blake laughed again when he asked a reporter, “What time is it? Eleven? A couple of hours to go, I guess.”

He can laugh because he has dealt with this since refusing to sign a King proposal that would have paid him $21.5 million over three seasons. That was offered in training camp as a take-it-or-leave-it deal, and when he left it, trade rumors began flying, mostly from Toronto.

“We thought it would happen before the season,” Norstrom said of how the rest of the Kings dealt with the possible loss of their captain. “Then we thought it would happen before Christmas. Now they’re saying before the All-Star break [Feb. 2-5].”

Taylor said the Kings have had conversations about Blake with other teams. Those conversations are believed to have been with the Devils, Toronto Maple Leafs, New York Rangers, Dallas Stars, Detroit Red Wings and St. Louis Blues, teams able to absorb the prorated remainder of Blake’s $5.267-million salary and, perhaps, afford him in the future. And they have players the Kings might use.

Blake or Salcer and Taylor have not talked about a contract since Christmas week, when the Kings were told Blake expected to be paid market value, which was set when the Blues signed defenseman-captain Chris Pronger to a contract worth nearly $10 million a season.

Coincidentally, Blake was named a starter for the North American team in the All-Star game, replacing Pronger, who has a knee injury.

The Kings said they could not afford what Pronger makes and are believed stalled at about $8 million a season.