by The Los Angeles Kings achieved their goal of adding a quality defenseman near the trade deadline. It came at a heavy cost.
The Kings acquired defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets. In return, Los Angeles sent two-time Stanley Cup winner Jonathan Quick, a conditional 2023 draft pick and a third-round pick in 2024.
“Jonathan Quick is a two-time Stanley Cup winner who has been an outstanding goaltender in our league for a long time, and this deal provides us with draft capital that will be valuable as we move forward as an organization,” Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo. Kekalainen said in a statement.
“It is never easy to trade players like Vladislav Gavrikov and Joonas Korpisalo as they were outstanding Blue Jackets, but given our current position these moves were in the best interest of our club.”
The NHL trade deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. ET.
The first round is conditional on the Kings making the playoffs, as expected. If they don’t, Columbus gets a second-round pick from LA in each of the next two drafts as part of the trade completed late Tuesday night and announced Wednesday.
To say Jonathan Quick is unhappy with the trade, I’m told, is an “understatement.”
The whole team of #LAKings she was a little down after the game, a win, and you could understandably see it in Anze Kopitar’s face after a 4-goal night.
Tough deal, the Kings trade a franchise legend.
Quick led the Kings to back-to-back Cup titles in 2012 and ’14. Won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2012 after recording three shutouts in 20 starts. He also allowed just seven goals in a six-game final victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Quick is in the final season of a 10-year, $58 million contract, but had been replaced as the Kings’ No. 1 goaltender by Pheonix Copley. It’s unclear whether Columbus will keep Quick or flip him to a prospect before Friday’s trade deadline.
Copley No. 1 in LA
Quick, 37, had started three of the last six games. He made 16 saves in last Friday’s 3-2 win over the New York Islanders to pick up his 370th career win, which moved past Tom Barrasso for third on the all-time list of wins by an American-born goaltender in NHL history.
He is 11-13-4 on the season with a 3.50 goals against average, .876 save percentage and one shutout.
Quick, a third-round pick of the Kings in 2005, also holds the franchise records for goalies in games played (743) and shutouts (57).
Gavrikov has three goals and 10 points in 52 games, but hasn’t played since February 11. He was expected to share last week with the Boston Bruins before falling through.
The Blue Jackets will look to quickly scout the market before Friday’s deadline to see if there is interest on a playoff team for UFA-pending Jonathan Quick. Something that has been communicated to the veteran goalkeeper and would no doubt be a desirable outcome for him.
Gavrikov was among the leaders of Columbus during the Ice Age. He’s also a left-handed shooter and a quality penalty killer, which are two areas where the Kings have been lacking.
Los Angeles is tied with Vegas for the most points in the Pacific Division with 76. The Kings made the playoffs last season for the first time since 2018, but lost in seven games to Edmonton in the first round. They haven’t won a postseason series since winning the Cup in 2014.
Korpisalo had won three of his last four starts along with a .921 save percentage. He made nine starts for the Blue Jackets during the 2020 playoffs.
Copley is 18-4-2 since making his debut on December 6th. The wins are tied with Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy during that span, but Copley’s .899 save percentage is 24th among 31 goaltenders who have played 18 or more games in the past three-plus months.
Korpisalos’ .915 save percentage since early December ranks 11th. His overall record this season is 11-11-3 with a 3.17 goals-against average and .913 save percentage.
Gavrikov and Korpisalo are also in the final year of their contracts and are expected to be unrestricted free agents at the end of the season.
