Quick leaves legacy of Stanley Cup titles, competitiveness with Kings

Jonathan Quick's legacy with Los Angeles Kings was secured when he helped them win the Stanley Cup for the first time in 2012.

Then he did it again in 2014.
Though the Kings haven't won a Stanley Cup Playoff series since then, Quick's competitive drive set a standard throughout a rebuild that is nearing its payoff this season.
That the 37-year-old goalie won't be around to see Los Angeles take the next step added a bittersweet taste to the trade Wednesday that sent him to Columbus Blue Jackets as part of a deal that brought back defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goalie Joonas Korpisalo.
"If you look at basically everything that the Kings did, you start with Jonathan Quick," said Calgary Flames forward Tyler Toffoli, who played on the 2014 Cup team. "Then, you go to obviously Dustin Brown and Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar. I think the trade is] definitely a surprise to everybody."
***[RELATED: [Quick traded to Blue Jackets for Gavrikov, Korpisalo]*
He didn't stay in Columbus long. On Thursday, he was traded to the Vegas Golden Knights, the Kings' Pacific Division rivals, for goalie Michael Hutchinson and a seventh-round draft pick in the 2025 NHL Draft.
The Kings (34-20-8), who are second in the Pacific Division, two points behind the Golden Knights, also gave up a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and a third-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft in the trade, which undoubtedly improves their chances of emerging from the wide-open Western Conference side of the playoff bracket. But Quick's departure after 16 seasons with Los Angeles got as much attention because it signaled the end of an era.
A third-round pick (No. 72) by the Kings in the 2005 NHL Draft, Quick is their leader in regular-season wins (370), shutouts (57) and games played (743) along with holding all of their single-season goaltending records, including games played (72 in 2009-10 and 2014-15), wins (40 in 2015-16), shutouts (10 in 2011-12), goals-against average (1.95 in 2011-12) and save percentage (.929 in 2011-12).
Quick also holds every Kings playoff record for goalies, including games played (92), wins (49), GAA (2.31), save percentage (.921) and shutouts (10). He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the playoffs in 2012 when he set an NHL postseason record with a 1.41 GAA (minimum 1,000 minutes).

"Jonathan Quick is the best goalie to ever play in this organization, let alone in the League, and he's taken this team, with a handful of players in the organization, to the highest level in two different times and throughout his career," Kings general manager Rob Blake said. "We are so thankful for what he's been able to do for this organization as a player, as a person, him and his family and his kids. We're indebted to what he's been able to do for us."
Quick's 3.50 GAA and .876 save percentage in 31 games this season (11-13-4) are his worst since he had a 3.84 GAA and .855 save percentage in three games as a rookie in 2007-08.
Still, Blake acknowledged it was not an easy decision to trade Quick, who is in the final season of a 10-year contract and can become an unrestricted free agent after this season. Blake remained in Los Angeles to work with the 2023 NHL Trade Deadline approaching at 3 p.m. ET on Friday, so he had to give Quick the news of the trade in a telephone call late Tuesday following the Kings' 6-5 shootout win at the Winnipeg Jets.
Blake didn't want to divulge the details of the call, but said it was probably the most difficult one he's made in his almost six years as the Kings GM.
"I was back here in L.A., so the conversation regarding the trade, unfortunately, had to happen after the game by telephone," Blake said. "It's just the way things worked out. It couldn't wait until the morning to do it in person. That's the way that had to unfold."

Blake said Quick being involved in the trade caused disappointment and shock among the Kings players, including captain Kopitar and defenseman Doughty, the last remaining members of the 2012 Cup team. Together with Brown, a forward who retired after last season, Kopitar, Doughty and Quick were the pillars of those championships.
Quick's hatred of losing -- and giving up goals -- set the standard in their locker room.
"I've never seen a guy that competitive, that much of a gamer, a guy that revels in opportunity in big games, shows up when it matters," said Golden Knights defenseman Alec Martinez, a member of the 2012 and 2014 Cup teams. "I guess I've never seen the consistency in stellar goaltending over an extended period of time that he had.
"To put it simply, he was making saves, a few of them come to mind [during] that '12 run that I don't think any goalie, let alone human being, has any business making."
That also applied to practices, when the puck ending up in the net behind Quick often resulted in a "few stick breaks and a few cuss words," according to Flames forward Trevor Lewis, also a member of those championship teams.
"He was always out there to compete," Lewis said. "I think that's what made him so good."
In the 2012 Cup Final against the New Jersey Devils, Quick outdueled Martin Brodeur, a four-time winner of the Vezina Trophy as the NHL's top goalie who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2018. In the 2014 Final against the New York Rangers, Quick bested Henrik Lundqvist, who won the Vezina in 2012 and appears destined to be voted into the Hockey Hall of Fame when he is first eligible later this year.
Flames coach Darryl Sutter, the Kings coach in 2012 and 2014, said Quick took those head-to-head showdowns personally.
"That was his challenge," Sutter said. "He wanted to be better than the other goalie."
Knowing Quick's competitive nature, Sutter had a prediction for his next chapter.
"His whole thing will be he wants to show somebody (they're wrong)," Sutter said. "I guarantee that."
Just imagine if the Golden Knights face the Kings in the playoffs. They do have one regular-season game left against each other, on April 6 in Las Vegas.
Whether Quick makes his return to Crypto.com Arena with in the postseason remains to be seen.
But there seems to be little doubt he'll be back there someday to be honored similarly to Brown, who had his number retired and a statue outside the arena unveiled Feb. 11.
"I don't have the final say in that by any means," Blake said. "But by far, he is just as deserving, as a few other guys will be in this organization."
NHL.com independent correspondents Aaron Vickers and Paul Delos Santos contributed to this report