Former Kings' Goalie, Quick Is Helping the Rangers Win the Presidents' Trophy with 18 wins on the season.
When the Los Angeles Kings made the tough decision to move on from goaltender Jonathan Quick, it seemed like the end of his career was near.
He was traded to the Columbus Blue Jackets for defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov and goalie Joonas Korpisalo. Quick was flipped to the Vegas Golden Knights, where he would win the 2023 Stanley Cup.
This past offseason, Quick signed with his boyhood team, the New York Rangers, and has not disappointed. He has appeared in 27 games and has a record of 18-6-2, with a .2.62 GAA and a .911 SV%. At 38 years old, those are outstanding stats, especially when you consider that he could have retired after being traded by the Kings last season.
Not only has Quick helped the Rangers be the best team in the NHL this season, he has also passed former Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller for most wins by an American-born goalie, with 392, and he recently collected 393.
With only two games left in the season, the Rangers have fairly good odds to lock up the Presidents' Trophy but still have competition with the Carolina Hurricanes who sit just one point behind them.
If Quick and the Rangers can go on a long playoff run, the questions around the Kings will be about trading their goalie. He was a lifelong King and a future Hall of Famer. It hurts even more for Kings' fans when they look at the current goalie situation in LA and how it has gone this season.
Was it the right time to trade Quick? At the time, potentially, but now looking back at it, GM Rob Blake may like a mulligan on that deal.
As for the Kings, they have clinched a third straight playoff berth. Unfortunately, they will likely draw the Edmonton Oilers again for a third straight year, a team they haven't had much success against in the postseason.
The Kings have three games remaining and currently sit in third place in the Pacific Division with 95 points. They will have a chance to eclipse the 100-point mark, but they will need to win at least two of their remaining three.
Their upcoming opponents are the Anaheim Ducks, Minnesota Wild, and Chicago Blackhawks, and based on those teams, getting five out of six points to reach 100 points on the season is doable.