Blockbuster Kings Trade Close; Quick Involved

It truly is the end of an era in Los Angeles.

The Los Angeles Kings have reportedly traded legendary goalie Jonathan Quick and a first round pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets alongside in exchange for Vladislav Gavrikov and Joonas Korpisalo.

The deal is not official and more details about the full package will come out soon. 

Chatter around this deal picked up just before the Kings took on the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday, but nobody expected Quick to be involved in this deal.

Late Tuesday afternoon, Elliote Friedman reported that the deal was close, with Quick and a first round pick as major pieces. 

This sent Kings twitter in a frenzy.

Fans weren't aware that they had seen Quick's last start in a Kings jersey Sunday against the New York Rangers, a game he was yanked from.

I'm not sure fans were ready for that to be his last game either.

It's been an amazing career for the most accomplished Kings goalie of all-time and one of the best American goalies ever.

Coming the other way. Gavrikov is a good fit for the Kings stylistically. A big, physical defensemen who's been solid throughout his career.

He's having a tough season right now, but clearly Rob Blake and his team feel that's an outlier.

Korpisalo on the other hand is having the best season of his career. 

Goaltending has been a massive problem for the Kings all season and Korpisalo might be the fix. He'll certainly be an improvement on what the Kings have now.

It's reported that Gavrikov has not signed an extension as part of the trade. Something that reportedly put Blake off of Gavrikov in the past.

A rental now would be an out of character move form Blake, but could be an indication he really believes in this team.

As reported by LAHockeyNow, this team is ready to take the next step to become a contender. 

And this certainly looks like that kind of move. 

Frank Seravalli also reported that, "To say Jonathan Quick is unhappy with the trade, I'm told, is 'an understatement.'"

It's unclear exactly what has happened between Quick and Blake, but LAHN will update the situation as it unfolds.