The Los Angeles Kings made their second trade of the summer, dealing the rights to Carl Grundstrom to the San Jose Sharks for defenseman Kyle Burroughs.
For a fairly innocuous trade, there's a bit to unpack here.
Firstly, I think the immediate reaction has been far too negative. Burroughs isn't a star by any means, but he's nowhere near as bad as some people have made him out to be.
He's a fine depth defenseman. Yes, his -42 last season jumps out at you, but when you dig deeper it isn't as bad.
The Sharks were awful last season and Burroughs was playing in far too big a role. He isn't a second-pairing defenseman and the results were always going to be rough using him as one.
It's also an outlier season for him. He was a -3 and -4 during his two seasons in Vancouver. He also suffered from a terrible on-ice save percentage of just 0.88.
His even-strength defense score according to EvolvingHockey.com was 3.2, which would have placed him behind just Mikey Anderson and Matt Roy last season in LA.
His 132 blocked shots would have also placed him third on the Kings. His 233 hits would have comfortably led the team as well.
Burroughs isn't a star, and might not even be an every-night starter, but he's fine in a depth role at $1.1 million.
With the reports that Roy will likely hit free agency, securing right-side depth isn't a bad move. Burroughs is also versatile and can play both sides which is ideal for a seventh defenseman.
That versatility might even make him an ideal replacement for Andreas Englund on the left side.
Losing Grundstrom was expected. He's a good player and brings a physical element the Kings lack, but he is also replaceable.
Given his arbitration eligibility, he wasn't being re-signed for less than $1.6 million and the Kings can replace him with a young player under $1 million easily.
The Kings got a physical defenseman who's posted good defensive results and has that 'desire to win' element Rob Blake desires.
This trade won't be a massive one for the Kings next season, but it was fine.
Blake might also make some more moves, so we'll wait to put a final stamp on this analysis.