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The lure of Cup riches kept Marian Gaborik in Los Angeles: 'I've made enough money'

Los Angeles Kings' Marian Gaborik of Slovakia holds up the Stanley Cup during the trophy tour at the Pohoda music festival in his hometown of Trencin, north of Bratislava, July 11, 2014. Pohoda is the largest Slovak open-air music festival. REUTERS/Radovan Stoklasa (SLOVAKIA - Tags: SPORT ICE HOCKEY SOCIETY)

Marian Gaborik was a Los Angeles King for 45 games – 19 in the regular season, 26 in the playoffs. He didn’t just wear the uniform. He didn’t just produce offensively. He fit into the culture and structure as L.A. won the Stanley Cup.

“Are you going to buy into doing the things a King has to do?” said general manager Dean Lombardi. “I think he certainly passed that test. Now the other test comes. Obviously now he’s got a contract.”

Obviously the Kings think Gaborik will pass this test, too. That’s why they gave him a seven-year, $34.125 million deal in June.

It’s a long-term commitment to a player who has fallen out of favor and suffered injuries elsewhere – traded twice in two seasons. But it’s a bargain for a 32-year-old winger with world-class speed, skill and scoring touch. Gaborik has scored at least 40 goals three times and at least 30 seven times.

Remember: Gaborik took a pay cut after leading the NHL playoffs in goals with 14 – four more than anyone else – and winning a championship. He didn’t even explore the free-agent market.

Gaborik made $7.5 million each of the past five seasons. But no one makes that much in L.A. – defenseman Drew Doughty’s average salary is $7 million and center Anze Kopitar’s is $6.8 million – and the Kings also wanted to re-sign defenseman Matt Greene under the salary cap. Gaborik’s average salary will be $4.875 million.

“Let’s face it, he could have made a lot more money if he went out on the market,” Lombardi said. “Here’s the rock star that could have gone out and got a lot more. Obviously that bodes well.”

Why not cash in on success?

“I’ve made enough money in my whole career, so it wasn’t about money,” said Gaborik, whose career earnings total $71.379 million according to capgeek.com. “To get a taste of that Cup, I think that gives you motivation to repeat and to be hungry again.

Gaborik led the 2014 NHL playoffs with 14 goals, playing mostly with Anze Kopitar. (AP)
Gaborik led the 2014 NHL playoffs with 14 goals, playing mostly with Anze Kopitar. (AP)

“That is the motivation – to go back there and to do it with this team and to play in this environment, to play in this state. It’s an awesome mix. I didn’t want to leave.”

The Kings’ identity is defense. Their weakness has been offense. Though they have been one of the best puck-possession teams in the NHL in recent years, they haven’t put the puck in the net enough at times. They ranked 29th in goals per game in 2011-12, 10th in 2012-13 and 26th last season.

In 2011-12, Lombardi acquired sniper Jeff Carter from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Kings won the Cup. Last season, he acquired Gaborik from the Jackets. But it wasn’t obvious that it would help the Kings win the Cup again.

Gaborik didn’t last under coach John Tortorella with the New York Rangers. He didn’t make a big impact as the Blue Jackets’ splashy deadline acquisition in 2012-13, and he played only 22 games for them in 2013-14 largely because of a broken collarbone, putting up six goals and 14 points. The Rangers and Jackets both had blue-collar, defensive identities.

“You can have a big name and a big career, but it can be hard to find a fit somewhere,” Jackets GM Jarmo Kekalainen told reporters after the trade. “He just didn’t fit.”

There were other options on the rental market last season, including Thomas Vanek, Matt Moulson, Mike Cammalleri. But the Kings did their homework.

The pro scouts studied Gaborik. The executives watched video. Lombardi was shocked at where Gaborik scored so many of his goals – not in the hardest of the hard areas, the top of the crease; but not in the softest of the spot spots, either. He would go somewhere in the middle. He could burn like Pavel Bure, but he could also knock pucks out of the air and into the net with grit, hands and timing. He proved it was a repeatable skill.

“It’s surprising when we think we know a player and then you really look at it,” Lombardi said.

Yes, Gaborik had defensive shortcomings. But the Kings’ core had been together for years, and coach Darryl Sutter had been in L.A. since December 2011. The Kings felt their culture and structure had developed to the point where the team could handle it. They felt Gaborik would make an effort.

“We’re not going to do anything to ever sacrifice our identity,” Lombardi said. “But that doesn’t mean within that identity you don’t want every weapon available to you that your competitors have, and I think what he gave us was that guy who can make something out of nothing – and it’s at a high, high end. Maybe you can live with some of the …”

Pause.

“His teammates will live with it and compensate in the areas that he’s not strong, as long as he continues to try and improve and give those things that he can do and nobody else can do. And we saw that.”

Gaborik is known for his flash, but he proved to L.A. that he'll get dirty for goals, too. (AP)
Gaborik is known for his flash, but he proved to L.A. that he'll get dirty for goals, too. (AP)

The Kings were on a Canadian trip when the deal went down – Winnipeg, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto. Gaborik’s teammates took him out on the road to make him feel welcome. When they got home, they made him feel at home. Carter invited him to stay at his place instead of a hotel.

Gaborik meshed well with Kopitar. He isn’t just a 1-on-1 player; he’s a playmaker. The Slovak and Slovenian thought the game the same way.

“I think that European instinct is there from both of us, those little give-and-go plays and the vision he has,” Gaborik said. “For me, just get open. I think we complement each other very well out there.”

“You’re just trying to kind of complete each other as good as you can,” Kopitar said. “I’ve said it all along, when Gabby gets the puck around the net, it’s always dangerous. For me, it’s just trying to give him the puck in those areas.”

After putting up five goals and 16 points down the stretch, Gaborik scored those 14 goals and finished with 22 points in the playoffs. He went to those in-between areas. He knocked pucks out of the air and into the net.

He did enough of the other things a King needs to do, too.

“It goes back to us being together and the type of game we play,” said captain Dustin Brown. “If you don’t want to play that way, you stand out pretty quickly because of how we’re built and how we’ve come together. Part of it is, he’s a good player – he was what we needed at the right time – and part of it is just our team makeup. There’s no one guy who gets to do it his way. …

“He fits in well with our group, and it’s just a matter of getting him where he needs to be to play our game for a full 82.”

Maybe Gaborik will be motivated to get where he needs to be because he’s where he wants to be.

“I’ve been around for a long time,” Gaborik said. “To come to this team, which has a history of winning and it’s a winning culture, a great group of guys, it feels good. It’s a good fit on the ice and off the ice. I’m really fortunate to be a part of this team, and let’s win again.”