Los Angeles Kings: It might be time to move Jonathan Quick

The Los Angeles Kings should consider parting ways with the most beloved goaltender in franchise history, Jonathan Quick. It’s a tough though to take in, but it might be better for both of them to go their separate ways.

The Los Angeles Kings have been at the bottom of the Western Conference all year and in dead last for most of the season. The team that won two Stanley Cups in three years has fallen far from grace. They didn’t even wait until the trade deadline to begin a fire sale of assets when they shipped Jake Muzzin off to the Toronto Maple Leafs on January 28th.

With the deadline just under a week away, the Kings are certain to sell off assets maybe even at discount prices. One player that once, and may still seem, untouchable might be better off having his services rendered elsewhere. That player is goaltender Jonathan Quick and it might be time for the Kings to consider parting ways with their franchise goalie.

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Any Kings fans reading this may need a moment to recover from the shock of that statement. But yes, it might be better for both the team and the goaltender who helped backstop the Kings to both their Stanley Cup victories to go their separate ways.

It’s a tough though to process when you look at what Quick had done for this team in 2012. With a 1.95 GAA and a save percentage of .929 that would make Patrick Roy in his heyday jealous, Quick lead the eighth-seeded Kings to a 2012 Stanley Cup victory.

Watch any game from the 2012 cup run and Quick’s saves look nothing short of a mid-1990’s Martin Brodeur highlight reel. Reminiscent of John-Sebastien Giguere’s 2003 playoff run, he was also awarded the Conn Smythe. He would repeat with a similar performance in 2014.

Times have not kept up with the Kings, however. Management locked up key pieces of the 2012 and 2014 cup runs, including Quick, to long-term contracts. While common, it didn’t work out for the Kings as their cup window arguably began to close after missing the postseason in 2015. They rebounded the next few years and made the playoffs, but were not close to being the cup contenders they once were.

That’s because the Kings were built for a different brand of hockey. They played a defensive-minded style of hockey that resulted in low scoring games, reminiscent of, but differing from, the neutral zone trap in the 1990’s. Patrick Johnson compared the two similar styles best when covering the 2012 cup final for the Christian Science Monitor.

"The Devils themselves were criticized in the 1990s for use of the neutral zone trap, in which players guarded the boards and clogged up the middle of the ice so that opponents struggled even to get close to the net, where future Hall of Fame goalie Marty Brodeur lurked for clean-up duty."

This is the style of play might have worked for the Kings in 2012. By 2016 it was outdated and ineffective. Teams because to move toward a speedier style of play with less emphasis on shutdown defensive theatrics and goal tending. Speed, support and depth were the name of the game, while the Kings were built for strong a strong defensive presence and only reactionary and optimistic offensive prowess.

Just like that, the Kings began to fall, and Quick fell with them. His statistics have increased like clockwork every year since 2012, with 2019 proving to be the worse yet, aside from his small sample of games in his first NHL season in 2007-2008.

He fit perfectly into the system the Kings bought so much into, but now he might be a casualty of their rebuilt. Management could elect to start a rebuild with him, but starting a rebuild with an older goaltender might not be the best course of action.

That’s what the Rangers are doing with Henrik Lundqvist and it might be holding them back. It might be better to part ways with Quick, hope for the best and find the goaltender of the future. Martin Jones would have been a great successor had he not been shipped away to the San Jose Sharks (via the Boston Bruins) in the 2015 off-season. Who knows, maybe in the trade for Quick they might find his successor. Goaltending does work in mysterious ways.

That would be what’s best for Quick as well. While not exactly old, he is on the wrong side of 30 and the victim of declining career statistics. Maybe the emotional attachment to the Kings will be too strong and he wants to stay. Or he could take the good amount of hockey he has left in his tank and take it to someone who can benefit from him more than a rebuilding Los Angeles Kings squad.

The beauty of this all is that it’s not a decision the King’s must make immediately; they can hold off until after the trade deadline and into the off-season. Maybe a team like the Calgary Flames that will most likely trade for a temporary back up relief at the deadline, or St. Louis who needs a back to their new number one in Jordan Binnington, might make a considerable offer for his services come the summer.

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He doesn’t have to be moved ASAP, but the Kings need to get ready for life after Quick sooner or later.

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