Rob Blake is on the clock.
Not to announce his selection in the NHL draft, though the Kings’ general manager will get another lottery pick in July as the result of his team’s third straight failure to make the playoffs and fifth in the last seven seasons.
After a season characterized by modest growth mixed with inconsistency and by tentative steps forward that were offset by a dispiriting late-season fade, time is ticking for Blake to complete the Kings’ transformation into a playoff team. More than that: He’s under pressure to build a Stanley Cup contender, to take the young talent he has accumulated and the $20 million in salary cap space he has carved out and ignite a rebuilding process that didn’t advance as much as it should have in the just-concluded season.