The Kings are bringing back a familiar face between the pipes as they have acquired goaltender Peter Budaj from the Lightning in exchange for winger Andy Andreoff.
Budaj spent two seasons in Los Angeles before being dealt to the Lightning near the 2017 trade deadline as part of the Ben Bishop trade. He was expected to serve as the backup to Andrei Vasilevskiy this past season but struggled considerably, posting a 3.76 GAA and a .876 SV% in eight appearances which forced Tampa to go and acquire Louis Domingue in a midseason swap to take his place.
As for Andreoff, he has been in and out of the lineup for the Kings as a depth forward for the past four seasons. In 2017-18, he played in 45 games, collecting nine points (3-6-9) along with 50 PIMS while averaging 9:23 of ice time. He will likely battle for a similar role with the Lightning next season. Andreoff has one year remaining on his contract with a $678K cap hit.
After the Kings dealt Darcy Kuemper to Arizona last season, Jack Campbell took over as the understudy for Jonathan Quick and it appears nothing will change there. Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link) that Los Angeles intends to use Budaj with their AHL affiliate in Ontario as a mentor for youngster Cal Petersen. The 35-year-old has one year remaining on his contract with a $1.025MM cap hit, an amount that can be buried in the minors full with no cap charge hitting the Kings’ books.
WHY!!!!?
andreoff wasn’t going to make the team…. figured it’d be good to reacquire an old friend…who performed well. plus of how little he is owed…helps with the cap and whatnot
Good move. Campbell is the backup but now there is insurance if he struggles or gets hurt. Peterson needs another year to develop. Should be good to go by 2019-20