Attention other 29 general managers in the NHL: Don't do what Dean Lombardi is doing.

Lombardi is currently in a Cold War with the perhaps best player on his team (and, you could argue, in the entire Pacific Division) over the terms of a contract extension that should make him one of the top four- or five-highest paid defensemen in the league; and, they hope, for a number of years.
But that is the sticking point. Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times recently reported that Doughty turned down the club's "best" (read: "final") offer of $6.8 million a season for the next six to eight years. Doughty — or, to more accurately portray the way this is being framed, Doughty's agent — would like to see a smidge more money (north of $7 million per) and a few less years. The ongoing holdout is the result of this clear and acrimonious difference in opinion between the two camps.

The sticking point for the Kings is that Doughty obviously didn't have an especially good season by his very lofty standards in 2010-11. Hey, it's not always easy for a defenseman, particularly one as young as the 21-year-old. But having three good-to-outstanding years in the league at his age is a rare feat indeed, and if Doughty wants to demand the reported amount, it's certainly reasonable to do so (even if asking for Shea Weber(notes)- or Zdeno Chara(notes)-type money is slightly silly since he's not as good as either one of them). It's also very reasonable for the team to say that his demands are too great.

But there are two very big missteps that Lombardi is making here and, somehow, escaping all blame for it.
(Coming Up: Iginla injury concerns; Tyler Seguin(notes) goes public; Jonas Hiller(notes) is feeling fine; great news about Peter Mueller(notes); Jimmy Howard(notes) as distracted; are the Panthers a playoff team?; Alexei Yemelin makes an impression; TJ Oshie(notes) is in shape; Baltimore loves Capitals; the Canucks' "Cup hangover"; the Thrashers are the Jets; Ovechkin eats cake; and a rather terrible Drew Doughty(notes) trade.)

First is that he has taken the very calculated and misguided path of taking the negotiations public. He recently told Rich Hammond that for every day of training camp Doughty does not attend, the Kings' per-annum offer drops by $24,727.27 — $6.8 million over the 275 work days of the NHL season. (Neither side, apparently, is interested in a one- or two-year deal.)

What does he hope to accomplish by making these very public declarations? Is Doughty going to all of a sudden jump up and say, "Well heck Don Meehan, I really wanted that 25 grand!" and immediately fly to Los Angeles and, like Bobby Ryan(notes) before him, negotiate his own cap-friendly deal?
Short answer: No. This isn't An Offer He Can't Refuse. As of this writing Doughty's missed two days of camp, so he's currently looking at a paltry salary of $6.75 million a year. How horrible.

The only thing Doughty will likely care about at the end of the day is that Lombardi didn't demur and say, "We're not going to discuss the details of ongoing negotiations at this time." By throwing out scraps here and there — what the team has already offered, what the player is looking for, how much each missed day of work will cost him, etc. — the only thing Lombardi can do is piss off his best player, not muscle him into finding a deal he or his representatives find unacceptable.

The other mistake he's making here is setting the $6.8 million max salary on the basis that this is how much Anze Kopitar(notes) makes. It's foolish. Kopitar is an excellent hockey player, but he's not the best on the Kings. (Now that they've acquired Mike Richards(notes), he might not even be the second-best.) Drew Doughty is.

Therefore, if you're saying, "We won't go above this amount," then the logical response is, "Kopitar is not as good at his job as Doughty, and therefore Doughty should be paid more." It's really not that difficult. Usually when teams set this kind of baseline, it's with a guy like Nicklas Lidstrom(notes), an unequivocal star player that would be the best on any team in the league. Anze Kopitar is a lot of things, but that is not one of them.

Lucky for the Kings, none of the above matters. Everyone seems to have already made their decision about where the blame lies: This is a problem caused solely by Drew Doughty, and not Lombardi and his often-questionable negotiating tactics (remember that Ilya Kovalchuk(notes) fiasco?). For some reason, it's believed that players are supposed to stay blindly loyal to their teams and not be paid commensurate to their abilities. People are already running him down, essentially calling him a meek bystander in a war between his team and his allegedly power-hungry agent, questioning his conditioning and saying he's demanding more money than Lidstrom. As though wanting more money than a 41-year-old on a one-year deal is now somehow unreasonable.

And to accuse him of being disloyal to the team is, simply put, stupid. People often like to say things such as, "This is a business," but that's not the case, apparently, in times like these. Fans would rather Doughty gladly take less money than he's worth just because the GM says he should.
Much like Phil Kessel's(notes) unhappy exit from Boston, it's not going to be the general manager's fault that he let a star player go to another team. I don't see how that makes sense, especially given that the Kings have plenty of cap space.
This isn't a case of Doughty demanding that the Kings pay for potential, as has happened with other restricted free agent negotiations. He's already one of the best defensemen in the League.

Why is it so outrageous that he wants to be paid like one?