Steve Stamkos, a member of the Sarnia Sting, is rated 1st overall in the 2008 NHL draft
It's the time of year when the lucky ones are making Stanley Cup plans for the marathon that commences next month.
For others, a cuddle at the post-season dance is nothing but a hallucination. In the eyes of the bottom-feeders, there is but one competition that matters right now. The Toilet Bowl.
And with about a month to go before the real season starts, the Los Angeles Kings and Tampa Bay Lightning are neck-and-neck in the sprint down the basement steps.
Waiting at the bottom, of course, is one Steven Stamkos, a pretty damn good reward for sucking seven months of the year.
But is Stamkos the clear-cut number one? Not so fast.
Now, here is where the asterisk comes in. Stinking the joint out worse than 29 other teams does not assure you of the first lottery pick. For that, like a perfectly-placed kick between the legs, you need the balls to drop in your favor.
Yes, Stamkos is the sexiest pick out there but, should the Kings come out the big winner on the NHL Draft Lottery day, you would have to think that the L.A. braintrust - now there is an oxymoron if I've ever heard one - will probably think long and hard about shoring up their abysmal defense or, in layman's terms, drafting Drew Doughty with the first overall pick.
And they may make out like bandits in the process.
It's not exactly a secret that most of the 29 other GMs have bedroom eyes for Stamkos, a star-in-waiting who has franchise forward written all over him.
An ideal time for the Kings, should they have their eye on Doughty, to play possum and take a king's ransom from the team with the second pick who may be looking to move up a peg to get Stamkos.
Conventional thinking tells you that GMs would have to move their first rounder, a blue-chip prospect, roster player and perhaps another pick or two before the Kings would even give it a second look. Next year's first might come into play as well but, with John Tavares the meal ticket in the summer of ‘09, not many will be willing to part with that shot-in-the-dark right now.
Should the balls fall the Kings' way in the draft lottery, that pick could very well be for sale.
After all, they will probably still get their guy and rip off an unsuspecting GM off in the process.