The Los Angeles Kings made a surprising move on Wednesday, trading away their legendary goaltender Jonathan Quick. The Kings will send Quick and a pair of picks to the Columbus Blue Jackets while receiving goalie Joonas Korpisalo and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov in exchange.
The picks Blue Jackets are getting are a third-round selection in 2024 and a conditional first-round selection in 2023. The conditional pick conveys if the Kings make the playoffs and turns into two second-rounders if they don’t.
Quick spent his entire NHL career with the Kings and served as their starting goalkeeper for the past 15 seasons. During that run, he helped the franchise win its only two Stanley Cups in 2011-12 and 2013-14 while making the All-Star game three times, among other individual accolades. He has a career .911 save percentage with a 2.46 goal-against average and 57 shutouts.
While Quick made a case to be considered the greatest goalie in the Kings’ history, the 37-year-old player struggled mightily this season. In 31 games he played in 2022-23, he posted an 11-13-4 record while having a .876 SV and 3.50 GAA. With the LA team still having a shot at winning the Pacific Division, general manager Rob Blake decided to make a difficult decision and improve on the position with what will most likely go down as an unpopular move.
Columbus’ general manager Jarmo Kekalainen issued a statement after the deal was announced, hinting that his organization primarily had draft assets in mind.
“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,” Kekalainen said.
