Kings strengthen defence, moving veteran goalie Quick to last-place Blue Jackets

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&amp;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.

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