Jonathan Quick, the winningest goalie in Los Angeles Kings history and the last line of defense to a pair of Stanley Cup championships in LA, is now a member of the Vegas Golden Knights.
VGK GM Kelly McCrimmon acquired Quick from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for goalie Michael Hutchinson and a seventh-round draft pick. Columbus retains 50 percent of Quick's salary.
Injuries to goalies Logan Thompson and Laurent Brossoit strained the positional depth McCrimmon built. Adin Hill has been excellent but, were he to suffer an injury after the deadline and prior to Thompson or Brossoit returning, Vegas would have been in a spot. McCrimmon needed the insurance Quick provides and he got lots of playoff experience to boot.
McCrimmon has roughly $3,000,000 in cap space to play with should he elect to add anything else prior to Friday's noon trade deadline.
Quick was brilliant for the Kings in a first round series vs. Vegas back in the 2017-18 postseason allowing just seven goals in four straight losses. He's synonymous with LA hockey and now he's a Golden Knight.
Quick was traded by the Kings to the Columbus Blue Jackets but reportedly had no interest in joining a team out of the playoff race. In his 16-year pro career the only NHL jersey he's worn is LA's. His current 10-year contract runs out at the end of the season.
This season has been a struggle for goalies in LA and Quick's .876 save percentage is well below his career numbers of .911. Same goes for this season's goals-against of 3.50 when compared to the 2.46 career number he's posted.
There's no question Quick has been one of the dominant players at his position over his career and he's the all-time leader in wins for the Kings with 370. What remains to be seen is how much does his 37-year-old body have left?
Quick was solid last season and finished with a 2.50 GAA and .910 save percentage. He also ranked seventh in goals saved above expected last season.
The one area which is difficult to quantify is the Connecticut native's compete level. Teammate Alec Martinez says he's the most competitive player he's ever been around. One can only imagine where the needle would get to on Quick's compete meter if and when Vegas faces the Kings for regular and post-season games.
The goaltender has appeared in 743 games in his NHL career, all with the Kings, posting a record of 370-275-82. Quick earned the William M. Jennings trophy twice (2013-14, 2017-18) while in Los Angeles, and was also named to two NHL All-Star Games (2012, 2016) during his time with the Kings.
In postseason play, Quick won two Stanley Cups in Los Angeles (2012, 2014) and has played in a total of 92 games during the Stanley Cup Playoffs, going 49-43 with 10 shutouts, a .921 save percentage and 2.31 GAA. Following the 2012 postseason, Quick won the Conn Smythe Award as the most valuable player in the playoffs when he went 16-4 with a 1.41 GAA, .946 SV% and three shutouts. The native of Milford, Connecticut represented Team USA internationally at the Winter Olympics (2010, 2014) and earned a silver medal in Vancouver when the United States fell to Canada in the 2010 gold medal game.
