The Los Angeles Kings achieved their goal of adding a quality defenceman near the trade deadline. It came with a heavy cost.
The Kings acquired defenceman Vladislav Gavrikov and goaltender Joonas Korpisalo in a trade with Columbus Blue Jackets. In return, Los Angeles sent two-time Stanley Cup winning goaltender Jonathan Quick, a conditional 2023 first-round draft pick and a third-rounder 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’s never easy to trade players like Vladislav Gavrikov and Joonas Korpisalo as they have been exceptional Blue Jackets but given our current position these moves were in our club’s best interest.”
The NHL trade deadline is Friday at 3 p.m. ET.
The first-rounder is conditional on the Kings making the playoffs, as expected. If they do not, Columbus gets a second-round pick from L.A. 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.” <br><br>The entire <a href=”https://twitter.com/hashtag/LAKings?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#LAKings</a> team was a bit down after the game, a win, and you could understandably see it in Anze Kopitar’s face after a 4-goal night.<br><br>Tough deal, Kings trading a franchise legend.
—@frank_seravalli
Quick backstopped the Kings to their Cup titles in 2012 and ’14. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP in 2012 after recording three shutouts in 20 starts. He also allowed only seven goals in the six-game finals victory over the New Jersey Devils.
Quick is in the final season of a 10-year, $58 million US contract but had been supplanted as the Kings No. 1 goaltender by Pheonix Copley. It’s unclear if Columbus will keep Quick or flip him to a contender before the trade deadline Friday.
Copley No. 1 in L.A.
The 37-year old Quick had started three of the last six games. He made 16 saves in last Friday’s 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders to pick up his 370th career win, which surpassed Tom Barrasso for third place on the wins list by a U.S.-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 by 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 has not played since Feb. 11. He was expected to be dealt last week to the Boston Bruins before that fell through.
Blue Jackets will try to quickly explore the market before Friday’s deadline to see if there’s interest on a playoff team for pending UFA Jonathan Quick. Which has has been communicated to the veteran goalie, and well, no doubt would be a desirable outcome for him.
—@PierreVLeBrun
Gavrikov was among Columbus’ leaders in ice time. He also is 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 most points in the Pacific Division with 76. The Kings got to the playoffs last season for the first time since 2018 but lost in seven games to Edmonton in the first round. They have not won a post-season series since winning the Cup in 2014.
Korpisalo had won three of his last four starts along with posting 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 Dec. 6. The wins are tied with Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy for the most during that span, but Copley’s .899 save percentage is 24th among 31 goalies who have played 18 or more games over the past three-plus months.
Korpisalo’s .915 save percentage since early December is ranked 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.
Senators trade for Chychrun
The Ottawa Senators have acquired defenceman Jakob Chychrun from the Arizona Coyotes, signalling that they intend to make a push for an Eastern Conference wild-card spot.
The deal cost the Senators a large chunk of their draft capital. Arizona gets a conditional first-round draft pick this year, a conditional second-round selection in 2024 (previously acquired from Washington) and a second-round pick in 2026.
In return, the Senators get a defenceman who can help them make a playoff push this season and has two years remaining on a six-year deal worth $4.6 million per year.
Chychrun has 28 points (seven goals, 21 assists) in 36 games with Arizona this season, which selected the 24-year-old 16th overall in 2016.
He has 60 goals and 110 assists in 373 games with the Coyotes.
The Senators are on a three-game winning streak, and their recent improved play has moved them within five points of Pittsburgh for the final Eastern Conference wild-card berth.
General manager Pierre Dorion had said that he would wait to see where the Senators stood after a stretch that ended with a pair of home games against Detroit earlier this week. He wanted to see what their result would be in those key games before deciding if the Senators would be buyers, sellers or standing pat heading into Friday’s trade deadline.
It appears watching the Senators sweep the Red Wings by a combined score of 12-3 was enough to convince him to buy now.
The first-round pick is top-five protected, and becomes an unprotected first-round pick in 2024 if that condition is met.
Should the Senators reach the Eastern Conference final this year, the 2024 second-round pick becomes a top 10-protected first-round pick that year instead.
If that condition is met, the pick becomes an unprotected first-round pick in 2025.
Canucks acquire Hronek from Red Wings
The Vancouver Canucks have added to their blue line, acquiring defenceman Filip Hronek from the Detroit Red Wings.
The trade, announced Wednesday, sees Vancouver send Detroit a pair of draft picks, including the conditional 2023 first-round pick the Canucks got from the New York Islanders in a deal for centre Bo Horvat and Vancouver’s second-round selection in this year’s draft.
In addition to the 25-year-old Hronek, the Red Wings are sending the Canucks their 2023 fourth-round pick.
Hronek has nine goals and 29 assists in 60 games for Detroit this season.
Selected by Detroit in the second round of the 2016 draft, the six-foot, 190-pound blue liner from Hradec Kralove, Czechia, has amassed 156 points (30 goals, 126 assists) and 162 penalty minutes over 305 regular-season games with the Red Wings.
Vancouver’s defence has been left thin by injuries and trades in recent days, with the club dealing veteran blue liner Luke Schenn to the Toronto Maple Leafs for a third-round pick on Tuesday, and trading D-man Riley Stillman to the Buffalo Sabres for a prospect on Monday.
The Canucks have also placed defencemen Ethan Bear (upper-body) and Oliver Ekman-Larsson (ankle) on the injured reserve list.
Capitals trade Eller to Avalanche
The reigning champion Colorado Avalanche, who want to get back atop hockey’s mountain, acquired centre Lars Eller from the Washington Capitals for a 2025 second-round pick. Eller scored two of the biggest goals on Washington’s 2018 title run, including the game-winner in the clinching game of the final, and can win faceoffs and kill penalties and fill a void down the middle.
After buying low on underachieving winger Jesse Puljujarvi, the Hurricanes made another under-the-radar pickup Wednesday by getting defenceman Shayne Gostisbehere from Arizona for a 2026 third-round pick.