Goaltending the key to the Kings’ future

The Kings are ready to embrace their future.

A group of young forwards showed promise now that nearly all are out of diapers. A defensive corps that needed Geritol, not Gatorade, is already getting a makeover. A bushel full of draft picks has been gathered, and salary cap space has been cleared.

The plan is perfect. Oops, the red light just went on.

The elephant in the Kings’ dressing room remains goaltending, the thing that turned a mediocre season into a dreadful one in 2006-07. Whatever General Manager Dean Lombardi does this off-season -- and the next and the next -- will matter little if the team’s long-standing woes in net are not solved.

“That is certainly a priority,” Lombardi said.

The Kings ended a dismal season on a positive note Saturday with a 3-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes in front of an announced capacity crowd of 18,118 at Staples Center. Rookie Anze Kopitar provided more hope for the future, chipping in a power-play goal with 53 seconds left to keep the Kings from finishing last in the Western Conference.

It gave Kopitar 20 goals and 61 points this season, the fifth-most by a rookie in Kings history.

“It was fitting -- he scored our first goal of the season and our last goal,” Coach Marc Crawford said. “He’s going to score a lot more in a Kings uniform.”

The Kings’ problems are elsewhere. The team’s history in net is pockmarked at best. The Kings have never developed a No. 1 goaltender. But then, appraising skill hasn’t always been the Kings’ strong suit under previous regimes. After all, this is a franchise that deemed the Dixie Chicks not talented enough to sing the national anthem in the late 1990s. The Dixie Chicks won five Grammy Awards at Staples Center this year.

The Kings let Billy Smith go before he was good enough to win Stanley Cups. He won four with the New York Islanders. They acquired Grant Fuhr after he was good enough to win five Cups with the Edmonton Oilers.

“We have to get the goaltending in order,” Lombardi said. “ ... The whole food chain is a priority, getting a young goalie going in the right direction.

Jonathan Bernier, the team’s first pick in 2006, and Jeff Zatkoff, a third-round pick in 2006, are candidates in the long-term plan. But “we have to bridge the gap,” Lombardi said.

Dan Cloutier, acquired in a trade with Vancouver, was last summer’s answer. After three months of soft goals and loud boos, Cloutier underwent hip surgery, with no guarantee that would solve the problem, though he has two years left on a contract extension.

The solution probably will come from within, as Lombardi said he did not expect to plug the hole through free agency.

That leaves Cloutier and Jason LaBarbera as the only two goaltenders guaranteed to be with the Kings when training camp opens in September. LaBarbera is a restricted free agent and has impressed team officials with his play at Manchester, N.H., this season.

Mathieu Garon, an unrestricted free agent, remains a possibility, though selling him on competing for the No. 1 spot that he felt was his two years ago might be difficult. Sean Burke, who was claimed off waivers in January, could also be brought back, though at 40 he probably would fill a backup role.

“Danny is now getting close to healthy, and we won’t see where he’s at mentally and physically until he gets into a game,” Lombardi said about Cloutier. “One thing we’ve talked about as a possibility is carrying three goaltenders. We won’t make a hasty decision in camp and get down to two.

“When Burke came in, it showed with just average goaltending, we were a lot more competitive. But it has to be better. We were a .500 team, and .500 doesn’t get you into the playoffs. We still have a long way to go.”

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chris.foster@latimes.com