Kings Make Moves- Bye Bye Budaj and King

By Jim Ellis
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Updated: March 2, 2017

Wednesday, March 1, 2017, 3 pm Eastern Standard Time, noon Pacific Standard Time, and for everyone else in other time zones … do the math. That is it. Deadline. No more trading after that.

Once the dust settled over the National Hockey League, the Los Angeles Kings saw three major trades take place. President/General Manager Dean Lombardi made some swift moves in the past two days.

JAROME IGINLA

Iginla counting pucks.

On Wednesday, Jarome Iginla, 39 (yup one away from 40) was acquired from the Colorado Avalanche for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2018 NHL draft. Compared to previous 50-plus goal years, this year’s output has been minimal: 18 points (eight goals, 10 assists) in 61 games with a minus-21 rating. Over a 20-year career however, the speedy (well, not as much) skater with the good shot has racked up 619 goals and 672 assists (1,291 points) in 1,535 regular-season games with the Flames, Penguins, Bruins and Avalanche. He also has scored 68 points in 81 playoff games.

Those playoffs included years playing for a then Calgary Flames coach named Darryl Sutter from 2003-06, including a Stanley Cup Final in 2004. Small world. Iginla is glad to be back with Sutter, someone he knows can be firm and tough.

Says captain Anze Kopitar, “He plays hard. His one-timer on the power play is something that for sure we’re going to try to utilize as much as we can and just go from there.”

Iginla, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, is in the final season of a three-year, $16 million contract.

Since the Avalanche team is experiencing a lull this year, this may be one of his last chances to be on a contender. Iginla said, “I really appreciate the opportunity to get to have a chance to be in full competitive games and can’t wait to compete with the Kings.”

DWIGHT KING

King (right) with buddy Nolan.

With the nature of the business of hockey, Lombardi didn’t see how the team was going to sign forward Dwight King. So he has been given his exit, sent to the Montreal Canadians for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2018 NHL draft. King also can become a free agent on July 1. He has eight goals and seven assists in 63 games this year. In 348 NHL games since the 2010-11 season, King, 27, has 52 goals and 56 assists. Routinely a fourth-line player, he may not get the sort of fanfare as other Kings. However there will be one person who will miss his buddy. From a Tweet by fellow linesman Jordan Nolan: “Had a couple of great years with this guy. Best of luck with @CanadianesMTL” Next.

PETER BUDAJ

One mainstay: Budaj’s hairstyle.

Bye bye Budaj. Thanks for the hard work to keep the Kings in the hunt this season; now we’ll be seeing you … most likely in Tampa Bay. On the bench.

Goalie Peter Budaj, 34, who filled in for injured Jonathan Quick after the super net-minder was injured in the first game, was dealt in a trade with the Tampa Bay Lightning. He, defenseman prospect Erik Cernak, a seventh round pick and a conditional draft pick in the 2017 draft went to Tampa Bay for top-notch goaltender Ben Bishop, 30, and a fifth round pick in the 2017 draft.

Wow. This one was not expected. With numbers Budaj was putting up, he appeared to be a strong backup for Quick who returned February 25. Playing in the majority of games in net, Budaj earned a 27-20-3 record, with a .912 save percentage, a 2.12 goals-against average and seven shutouts. Before his last eight outings, he was leading the league in these categories. In his last eight outings, he pretty much sort of stunk, going 2-6, giving up five goals on three occasions, some as soft as they come.

Said GM Dean Lombardi,

“It’s probably safe to say, going down the stretch here, we feel that we’d better have a number one goalie every night. Peter did a good job for us, stopping what you’re supposed to stop. But I think, if you’re looking at these last 24 games, some of the things I saw, in particular, in the last couple of weeks, the thing was to make sure that we have a number one in there every night.”

Already Bishop has played in one game for the Kings, giving up two goals in an overtime loss to the Calgary Flames on Tuesday.

The veteran Budaj, who has had his ups and downs through a career spanning from 2005-06, will most likely take a backup role to Lightning starter Andrei Vasilevskiy.

Through Frozen Royalty, Budaj said, “I’m very excited to be here. I’m enjoying every moment, trying to work hard. No matter what my role is, I’m here and I’m excited to help the team win games and try to be the best teammate I can be.”

So onward we travel, beyond March 1, 2017, noon PST, and 9 p.m. in Banska Bystrica, Slovakia (if you do the math) – as Budaj dons his Lightning blue, Iginla figures out his new jersey number, Dwight King finds a new linemate to call his friend, and Bishop mismatches his mask color with the black and white of the Kings. It’s on towards the playoff run.

Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, all the time!