Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi said he’s undecided about whether to recall prospect Brayden Schenn if the center’s Western Hockey League team is eliminated from the playoffs.

Schenn plays for Saskatoon, which trails Kootenay three games to none in a best-of-seven series and could be eliminated Wednesday. Schenn could otherwise be recalled only if the Kings have two injuries to forwards and make two emergency recalls from their minor league system before summoning him.

“That’s a good question,” Lombardi said. “It’s not that I haven’t been thinking about it.”

Even if Schenn becomes available, would it serve him and the Kings to throw him into the pressure of the NHL playoffs?

Lombardi seemed to think not, even though the Kings’ offense has stalled since Anze Kopitar suffered a season-ending ankle injury.

“With your top player, and he was told this when he left, I think part of their development, particularly when they go back to a league where they should be a dominant player, is to go deep and win. If you’re that good, as he is and as he should be, you might as well learn to take winning on your shoulders now,” Lombardi said.

“I’m a little torn on it. On one hand you want to have access but we made the commitment to go this route. I want to see him win.”

Lombardi is also cautious about the pressure that would be put on Schenn if he were to join the Kings.

“The other thing, too, is that he can help us in terms of making plays. But the perception that he’s somehow going to fill in for Kopitar is way off,” Lombardi said. “He could improve the team in an area like [Andrei] Loktionov, in terms of playmaking and puck possession. But the perception that he’s going to go in there and suddenly Kopitar’s hole is going to be filled, that’s totally unrealistic.

“The other thing in the back of my mind is, is this really the stage to put the kid on? We’ll probably make the decision when the time comes. But I want this kid to win a Memorial Cup. It’s huge. To me there’s a difference between a great player and a winner. If you’ve reached the first step and become a top player and it’s taking responsibility for winning . . . I think a guy can learn that at a lower level. There is a school of thought that when you’re drafting or grading for a player you look at his history of winning. There are teams that put that in the mix.”