Over the last couple of summers, the NHL has been forced to modify its schedule which has resulted in free agency starting late the last two years. Last summer, it was July 28th while it will be July 13th this time around. As Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic reports (Twitter link), the league plans to get back to a typical league calendar for 2022-23 which would see the start of free agency next summer come on July 1st.
Elsewhere around the hockey world:
- Stars GM Jim Nill told Saad Yousef of The Athletic (subscription link) that the team plans to address their right-defense situation this summer. John Klingberg is a pending UFA that will need to be re-signed or replaced while Jani Hakanpaa is their other right-shot option. Nill is a proponent of having three lefties and three righties on the back end so don’t be surprised if Dallas is on the lookout for another right-shot rearguard even if they’re able to keep Klingberg in the fold.
- As we get close to the annual goaltending carousel around the NHL, Eric Duhatschek of The Athletic suggests (subscription link) that Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick should be garnering some attention as a possible candidate to move. After reclaiming the starting role this season, the 36-year-old helped lead Los Angeles back to the playoffs. Quick is down to just one year left on his contract so for a team that’s looking for a short-term addition to try to stabilize the situation between the pipes, he could be a viable option.
- After recently stepping aside as an assistant coach in Vancouver, Scott Walker has found his next job as Guelph of the OHL announced that they’ve hired Walker as their new head coach. Walker was the president of hockey operations for the Storm last season and had previously been a co-owner and head coach of the team so this was a decision that shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
LA isnt moving Quick. He outplayed Cal Peterson and backstopped us in the playoffs. The Kings didn’t lose to Edmonton because of Quick, not even close. If you look at the LA prospect pipeline, there’s two areas where it’s lacking. We are short on goaltenders and LHD. There’s no replacement in the system. Quick will retire having only played for LA.
If I had to rank the reasons why Quick is still on the team/will most likely not be traded now:
1.) Lack of another viable option. Petersen’s struggles play a big part in this. The Kings haven’t had anybody to challenge Quick, nor a strong enough pipeline, as you already stated.
2.) Quick’s own struggles/injuries in previous seasons. The truth is, $5.5m for a good starter is not bad. But Quick wasn’t a good starter for several years before turning it around a bit this year. If he was playing well, he probably would have been traded during the sell-off seasons.
3.) Loyalty. It plays a small part, but it’s mostly overstated, and there’s a little bit of revisionist history at play here because of the season the team/player just had. If anyone remembers, Quick was on the trade block like most other players during those several lean seasons. If the right offer came along, I think they would have pulled the trigger.
Wouldn’t now be the time to move him then? One year left before potential retirement and coming off a good season. Unless the kings think they can compete for the cup next year, now might be the right time to move Quick if you can get a decent return.
I agree with WiC as Quick wasn’t the problem.
It’s too bad a club like Tronna doesn’t have their goaltending pipeline in order that would facilitate a win now move like the one in the article.
Nobody is saying that Quick was the reason we didn’t beat the Oilers. The Oilers won because the had McDavid plain and simple. The Kings need to make a hard run at Johnny Hockey, he is clearly the best FA out there and franchise players don’t come around that often. Moving Quick frees up another 5 million in cap space. Also us King fans need to realize that our upcoming run (hopefully) the next five years will be without JQ
Four players (now three) the Kings will never trade: Quick, Kopitar, Doughty (Brown being the fourth but retired as a King). All four player will have their numbers retired by the organization and have a statue out front of the stadium. The owner is known for his loyalty and both the president and GM of the organization are former HoFers and long-time Kings players.
yes both both gm and pres played elsewhere as well
Think he is only traded if asks for one.
Eeeeeesh. Okay. Quick had a good season. Not a great season: a good season. And he stunk out the joint the three previous seasons, and at age 36, it’s a lot more likely he declines further than keeps on having good seasons. Whatever he was in the past, he is NOT the future of this club. Whatever they get for him, they should get for him.
Wow, new to hockey? No one said Quick is the future of the Kings. Trade him for whatever they can get? Where do you come up with this stuff? Trade a guy who might still be the best goalie in the organization for a late round pick just to move him? Come on man, think a bit.
I don’t think the Kings will trade Quick. However, it isn’t as unthinkable as some are making it. He would have been gone several years ago if he wasn’t struggling/injured so much.
The problem with trading/not trading Quick doesn’t actually have anything to do with him; the issue is Cal Petersen. He should have taken the reins by now and relegated Quick to a backup spot. I think Quick would be gone if they felt comfortable handing the job to Cal, but he hasn’t shown enough. As stated before, Quick had a perfectly decent season and it was good enough to beat out Petersen for the starts. Quick earned them. So, Quick stays, in my opinion.
Best case scenario, now, is that Petersen finally takes the starting job from Quick this season and justifies his extension, while Quick is resigned year-to-year for significantly less than his current AAV to serve as a high-end, experienced backup as long as it’s fruitful.