The first shoe dropped on the day of the NHL trade deadline as the Los Angeles Kings acquired a big-time goal-scorer:
Forward Matt Frattin is going to Columbus in addition to a second-round pick. The conditional pick is a third for now which materializes if Los Angeles wins a playoff round or re-signs Gaborik.
The Blue Jackets will also be paying a significant portion of Gaborik’s remaining contract.
There’s no doubt that Gaborik has a long history of struggling with injuries; he’ll have missed close to half the season this year, missed about 20 games in 2010-2011 and missed nearly the whole season back in 2008-2009. That means Gaborik averages missing about 15 games a season. The injury concerns are very, very valid.
That said, Gaborik is still one of the elite goal scorers in the NHL: Gaborik leads the Blue Jackets in five-on-five point production this year on a per minute basis and Gaborik is tied for 10th in goals per game since his move to the Eastern Conference in 2009 at 0.43. That number is a higher goal/game rate than names like Rick Nash, Jarome Iginla, Jonathan Toews, Patrick Sharp, John Tavares, Thomas Vanek and on and on the list goes. Gaborik’s “demise” has indeed been greatly exaggerated.
There is no doubt that the Kings need help in goal scoring. Remember, this team was an elite possession team back in 2012 but struggled to score goals. They then acquired Jeff Carter who scored 14 goals in 34 games including regular and postseason play and the rest, as they say, is history.
This year, the Kings are again an elite possession team and again they are struggling to score goals. It completely makes sense to get Gaborik as he is an elite goal scorer and can also drive possession for his teams. We’ll see if he can stay on the ice.
