Kings Due for a Major Overhaul

Across the street from Staples Center, construction on AEG’s billion-dollar entertainment district continues.

Inside the arena, the deconstruction on another AEG property, albeit a lower-tiered one, is about to begin: the Kings.

Dave Taylor has already been told that he will be removed as general manager, two league sources said.

Those sources also said the job is Dean Lombardi’s to have and, if he accepts, he could be put in charge as soon as today when King Chief Executive Tim Leiweke meets with the media.

Meanwhile, the Kings concluded their season Monday, handing their fans another IOU, even after a 4-0 win over the San Jose Sharks at HP Pavilion, closing out AEG’s first decade of ownership.

Outside Staples, the plans include a hotel, restaurants and theaters. Inside, a potent power play, consistent goaltending and a new attitude seem to be needed, ingredients that might lead occasionally-seen owner Philip Anschutz to allow his photograph to be used in the team’s media guide.

“We have to start thinking we can win the Stanley Cup,” Luc Robitaille said. “It’s not good enough any more to be just good enough to get into the playoffs.

“This franchise hasn’t won anything in 39 years, and we still sell out games.... We have to reward those people. We have to believe we can win. The rest becomes details.”

Those in charge of the details are mum for now. Requests to interview Anschutz were ignored.

Leiweke has said he would not comment until after the season, but his intentions seem clear.

Sources said that Lombardi declined to meet with the Kings until Taylor had been told of his fate. Lombardi, the former general manager of the Sharks, met with Leiweke. Lombardi, who also talked with the Boston Bruins and New York Islanders, is the only candidate the Kings have talked to at this point and, sources say, he has been offered the job.

The Kings collapsed down the stretch for the second consecutive season. That left Monday’s game without much drama, beyond being Robitaille’s last NHL game. Robitaille was mobbed by teammates afterward and congratulated by Shark players.

“You battle all year and you come down to the last game and it’s meaningless,” center Eric Belanger said. “It’s hard to take.”

That has been the case for three consecutive seasons. But this one was more difficult to endure for players and management.

AEG has held the Kings to a tight budget, practicing “cost certainty” long before NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman made it the rallying cry for the lockout. The Kings have never turned a profit under AEG.

The new collective bargaining agreement, which included a $39-million salary cap, was supposed to help the Kings become successful and profitable. But while teams were on equal footing in terms of what they could spend, some seemed to spend that cash wiser.

The Philadelphia Flyers traded Jeremy Roenick to the Kings, which allowed the Flyers to sign Peter Forsberg. Roenick made $4.94 million this season and had only eight goals.

Mathieu Garon, brought in to be the team’s No. 1 goaltender, was inconsistent. The team’s power play ranked 27th in the league. Alexander Frolov, counted on to be a top-line player, had eight goals in his last 35 games. And controversies surrounding Sean Avery seemed a too frequent distraction.