Kings receive second pick

The promise of what was billed as the most important day for the Kings’ franchise didn’t materialize as Tampa Bay won the NHL draft lottery Monday.

The Kings will select second at the NHL Entry Draft, which will be held in Ottawa, June 20-21. Atlanta picks third, St. Louis fourth and the New York Islanders fifth. The Ducks, who have Edmonton’s pick because of the Dustin Penner signing, will select 12th.

Representing the Kings was president of business operations, Luc Robitaille, who was putting his nickname “Lucky” on the line, according to team president and general manager Dean Lombardi.

Robitaille and the other four representatives from the respective NHL franchises on hand were at TSN studios in Toronto and the lottery machine and the balls representing the participating clubs were at the NHL offices in New York.

But the Kings only had an 18.8% chance of moving to the No. 1 spot after finishing second to last in the league. Their grip on last place slipped away when they beat the Sharks on Thursday night.

Tampa Bay and the Kings both lost on Saturday in their season finales and each finished with 71 points but the Kings had one more win, which was the first tiebreaker.

Forward Steve Stamkos (from the Sarina Sting of the Ontario Hockey League) is viewed as the consensus No. 1 selection and potential franchise player. He was asked about going to the Lightning.

“Nothing is set in stone yet but if I’m the guy they want, it’ll definitely be a great honor for me,” Stamkos told TSN, the Canadian sports network.

Lombardi was disappointed at not getting the No. 1 pick but attempted to put a positive spin on the proceedings.

“There’s no doubt in my mind that we’re going to get a very good player at No. 2,” he said.

Lombardi is especially high on OHL defenseman Drew Doughty (Guelph Storm). Two other highly touted defenseman Zach Bogosian (Peterborough Petes) and Alex Pietrangelo (Niagara Ice Dogs) are also in the mix.

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com