Los Angeles Kings Have Options to Replace Jonathan Quick

Los Angeles Kings Starter Jonathan Quick Left the Season Opener at End of the 1st Period Versus San Jose on Wednesday. The Organization Provided an Update on Thursday, Calling Quick’s Injury “Week-to-Week”. Options Exist to Replace the Kings Elite Starter, But It Will Take Serious Tinkering With Limited Cap Space

Los Angeles Kings starter Jonathan Quick appeared to have injured himself in the first period of the season opener on Tuesday. It occurred when Quick stretched out from post-to-post to stop Sharks captain Joe Pavelski. He wound up leaving the game after 20 minutes, with backup Jeff Zatkoff stepping in to stop 15 of 16 shots en route a 2-1 loss.

The Kings provided an update via their twitter account on Thursday, calling Jonathan Quick’s injury “week-to-week”. It’s devastating news for Los Angeles, who are now facing some extremely difficult decisions moving forward. In order to replace their elite starter and keep their heads above water until his return, LA will more than likely need to do some tinkering with the salary cap in order to make room for another body.

Sorry Kings fans, as good as Jeff Zatkoff looked in 2015-16 and early this year, it’s asking for too much of him and Peter Budaj to carry the load in Quick’s absence.

As it currently stands, the Los Angeles Kings have $2,129,773 dollars in cap space. One problem though; they need to somehow make room for Marian Gaborik‘s $4.875 million dollar cap hit upon return from injury. So, technically speaking, LA is already above the cap ceiling by over $2.5 million dollars.

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Once Quick is moved to the injured-reserve (IR), the Los Angeles Kings should have an estimated $7,929,773 in temporary cap space. If Gaborik returns before Quick, that leaves LA with $3,054,773 dollars to find temporary relief for their starter.

Should management choose to use that additional money, they’ll have a window between when Gaborik returns to when Quick is back to trim an additional $2.8 million dollars somewhere else. That number likely dips a bit lower too when you consider having to eventually bury that contract in the AHL (unless they choose to send Zatkoff’s $900k down to Ontario).

In all honesty, the Los Angeles Kings would need to pull off a miracle and defy the odds to find a solution given their cap situation. A miracle is exactly what this team needs right now though.

Just ask the Columbus Blue Jackets what happens when you put yourself in a hole at the beginning of a new season. Especially in that tough Pacific Division that will likely only produce three playoff teams, LA can’t afford to roll the dice with Jeff Zatkoff and Peter Budaj – and if they do, a lottery finish could be on the horizon.

My suggestion: A one day at a time attitude. There’s a bit of cap space created from the unfortunate situation, while not technically money they have to spend, it mid as well be put towards another netminder. Worry about making those tweaks/changes for an eventual Gaborik/Quick return as the situations present themselves.

On a bit of a side note, if the Los Angeles Kings were smart, they’d find a way to shed a big contract and address the hole on right side of their blue line that was left long ago by Slava Voynov, and never replaced.

Potential Trade Targets for Temporary Relief Between the Pipes

Anton Forsberg/Joonas Korpisalo (Columbus Blue Jackets)
Reto Berra (Florida Panthers)
Keith Kinkaid/Scott Wedgewood (New Jersey Devils)
Thomas Greiss (New York Islanders)
*Ondrej Pavelec (Winnipeg Jets)

*Pavelec would take serious tinkering considering he carries a $3.9 million dollar cap hit (and is owed $4.75 million in actual salary). This is somewhat of an intriguing scenario considering Pavelec is arguably the top available option talent-wise.