As of this morning, the Los Angeles Kings are one of two teams without a point one week into the season. They have the worse goals-against average in the league at -6 and things could get worse as goaltender Jonathan Quick could be out until early 2017 with a groin injury.
According to Lisa Dillman of the L.A. Times, the exact timetable for his return is up in the air but GM Dean Lombardi is estimating around three months. Quick opted for a medical procedure that did not involve surgery and Lombardi has yet to place Quick on long-term IR. His injury to go along with a 0-3-0 start is really forcing Lombardi to make some kind of move in goal.
Dillman also reported that his injury is said to be in the same area as where Quick sustained a strained groin in 2013 and missed almost two months.
He currently has Jeff Zatkoff and Peter Budaj as the goaltending tandem. Zatkoff has 31 career NHL starts to his name and Budaj has spent most of the last two seasons in the AHL. Lombardi can’t do a whole lot in terms of trades and there’s not many good upcoming UFA’s that will hit the market this summer (Ondrej Pavelec, Michal Neuvirth, and Al Montoya among others).
When Quick was injured in 2013-14, he had Martin Jones and Ben Scrivens step up and contribute. Unfortunately he no longer has those options.
If Lombardi wants to really be bold and is willing to ship some players to make the salary work, I know a goalie that would be a perfect fit to make the Kings competitive while Quick is recovering.
