Quick traded to Golden Knights day after being acquired by Blue Jackets

It’s the second time the two-time Cup winning goalie with the Los Angeles Kings was traded in two days; he was sent from the Kings to the Blue Jackets on Wednesday morning.

In return for Quick, Columbus received goalie Michael Hutchinson and a seventh-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft from Vegas.

[RELATED: 2022-23 NHL Trade Tracker]

The Blue Jackets acquired Quick, a conditional first-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and a third-round selection in the 2024 NHL Draft from the Kings for defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goalie Joonas Korpisalo.

“We’ve been communicating with [Quick] and his agent and we have the utmost respect for him and his career and his accomplishments,” Columbus general manager Jarmo Kekalainen said before the trade with the Golden Knights. “So, we’re going to try to do the right thing and we’ll stay in touch with him, and we’ve still got plenty of time here. We’ll see what happens.

“Come that (3 p.m. ET Trade Deadline) time on Friday, whether he is a Blue Jacket or not, we’ll make that decision.”

Quick is 11-13-4 with a 3.50 goals-against average, .876 save percentage and one shutout in 31 games (27 starts) this season. The 37-year-old goalie is in the final season of a 10-year contract he signed with the Kings on July 1, 2012, and can become an unrestricted free agent after the season. Columbus will retain 50 percent of Quick’s contract.

He is expected to be available for the Golden Knights when they host the New Jersey Devils on Friday (10 p.m. ET; SNE, SNO, SNP, ATTSN-RM, MSGSN, ESPN+, SN NOW).

“We know where he is in his career,” Vegas coach Bruce Cassidy said Thursday. “He’s also a two-time Stanley Cup champ who brings other things to the room. So for us, we like that as an opportunity to upgrade.”

Quick will give a boost to a Vegas goaltending group that has been beset by injuries. Rookie Logan Thompson, who is 20-13-3 in 36 games (35 starts), is out week to week after sustaining a lower-body injury in a 5-1 win against the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 9. Cassidy said Wednesday that Thompson “is nowhere near being on the ice just yet.”

Laurent Brossoit (lower body) was placed on injured reserve Monday and has been limited to three games this season. Hutchinson backed up Adin Hill in a 3-0 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Monday and a 3-2 win against the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday. Robin Lehner has missed the entire season after having hip surgery in August.

“To preface, we’ve liked our goaltending all year. I think we came into this with some level of unknown with Robin’s injuries,” Cassidy said. “They’ve responded very well. Unfortunately, health is a problem right now …  after Friday, you can’t address that.

“Right now, ‘LT’ and ‘LB’ are not on the ice, and if you’re not on the ice you, you need to be on the ice before you’re close to getting back in the lineup.”

Vegas is also in a stretch where it will play every other day through March 16.

“It’s no reflection on the other three guys, it’s some insurance,” Cassidy said.

The Golden Knights have one more regular-season game against the Kings, on April 6 in Las Vegas.

“I mean, we wish him all the best wherever that is,” said Los Angeles captain Anze Kopitar, who played with Quick for 16 seasons. ” … But what I want for him is to go to a place where he has a chance obviously to play wherever that may be. Wish him all the best for him and his family.”

Selected by the Kings in the third round (No. 72) of the 2005 NHL Draft, Quick is 370-275-82 with a 2.46 GAA, .911 save percentage and 57 shutouts in 743 regular-season games (731 starts). He is also 49-43 with a 2.31 GAA, .921 save percentage and 10 shutouts in 92 Stanley Cup Playoff games, helping Los Angeles win the Cup in 2012 and 2014.

Quick was awarded the Conn Smythe Trophy voted as most valuable player of the playoffs in 2012. He has also won the William M. Jennings Trophy, which is awarded to the goaltenders who played for the team that allowed the fewest goals, twice (2013-14, 2017-18).

“It was really sad and unexpected,” Kings defenseman Drew Doughty said. “I mean, it [stinks] seeing one of your best friends of your life leave. Yeah, it was just so many emotions. … I never wanted to see ‘Quickie’ go. I expected to play with him the rest of my career, but the good thing about it is we’re so close with ‘Quickie.’ We’re always going to stay in touch. We’re always going to see each other. Our families are close. So, yeah, again, it [stinks] and don’t love that he’s gone at all, but I mean, it’s hockey, it’s business, and sometimes things like that happen that you’re not going to like.”

A native of Milford, Connecticut, Quick is four wins shy of tying John Vanbiesbrouck for second among U.S.-born goalies in NHL history. Ryan Miller is first with 391.

“Jonathan Quick is the best goalie to ever play in this organization, let alone in the League, and he’s taken us, with a handful of players in the organization, to the highest level in two different times and throughout his career,” Kings GM 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.”

Hutchinson, 33, who has not played in the NHL this season, is 55-55-15 with a 2.79 GAA, .905 save percentage and six shutouts in 137 regular-season games (116 starts) with the Toronto Maple Leafs, Colorado Avalanche, Florida Panthers and Winnipeg Jets. He is expected to join the Blue Jackets prior to their game against the Seattle Kraken on Friday.

Vegas (36-19-6) is in first place in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of Los Angeles. On Wednesday, the Golden Knights acquired forward Teddy Blueger from the Pittsburgh Penguins for defenseman Peter Diliberatore and a 3rd-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft. On Feb. 26, they acquired forward Ivan Barbashev from the St. Louis Blues for forward Zach Dean.

“It’s not just about the numbers and digging up the different statistics of the season,” Vegas general manager Kelly McCrimmon said of Quick. “He’d be the first to admit the year hasn’t gone as well as it could. We’re all about what lies ahead. What I’ve seen with Jonathan Quick on different occasions is he’s responded to challenges many times in his career. His character is through the roof, and I think he’ll come in and give us really good goaltending.”

Columbus (20-35-6), which is last in the NHL, also traded forward Jakub Voracek and a sixth-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft to the Arizona Coyotes on Thursday for goalie Jon Gillies, and forward Gustav Nyquist to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday for a fifth-round pick in the 2023 Draft.