The team's early success quashed predictions McPhee would trade assets for prospects or draft picks. At the trade deadline he paid the hefty sum of first-, second-, and third-round draft picks for forward Tomas Tatar, but Tatar didn't produce and hasn't cracked Gallant's lineup lately. During the season, McPhee gave extensions to Marchessault, former Kings defenseman Brayden McNabb and defenseman Jon Merrill. Players liked that McPhee is looking to win now, not in three or five years. "It wasn't like a joke at the beginning of the year, but a lot of guys weren't sure how close to get to other guys.

Source: Los Angeles Times April 29, 2018 23:15 UTC