Jonathan Quick is on the move again.
The Vegas Golden Knights acquired Quick in a trade with Columbus on Thursday, in exchange for goaltender Michael Hutchinson and a 2025 seventh-round pick.
The Blue Jackets retained 50% of Quick's salary/cap hit in the deal. He is a pending UFA in the final season of a 10-year, $58 million contract.
This is the second transaction that Quick, 37, has been part of in the past 48 hours. The longtime Los Angeles Kings netminder was surprisingly included in the Kings' blockbuster deal with the Blue Jackets on Tuesday that brought goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov to L.A. and Quick, a conditional first-round draft choice and a third-round pick going the other way.
Quick was reportedly unhappy Tuesday's trade and remained in Los Angeles while Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen assessed the market for another suitor willing to take Quick on before Friday's deadline. The Golden Knights were a match -- and they happen to be a key Pacific Division rival of the Kings.
Vegas has been down a starting goaltender since Logan Thompson suffered a lower-body injury last month. Coach Bruce Cassidy said this week Thompson is "doing well" but also that he's "nowhere near being on the ice." Laurent Brossoit took over but was sidelined by lower-body ailment over the weekend, leaving third-stringer Adin Hill and American Hockey League recall Hutchinson to man the Golden Knights' cage.
Vegas previously lost projected starter Robin Lehner to season-ending hip surgery in August. Now, the Golden Knights have a new veteran option in their ranks.
Quick had spent the entirety of his career with the Kings since the club drafted him in the third round (72nd overall) of the 2005 NHL entry draft. He left as the most successful netminder in the franchise's history, having backstopped the team to two Stanley Cup championships (in 2012 and 2014) and earning the Conn Smythe Trophy in 2012. Quick is also a two-time Vezina Trophy finalist and William Jennings Trophy recipient.
In recent seasons, Quick's play has declined from its peak, but he'd remained an important part of L.A.'s foundation. But this season the veteran posted some of his worst numbers ever, going 11-13-4 with an .876 SV% and 3.50 GAA. Pheonix Copley eventually took over more starts for the Kings, making Quick expendable. Korpisalo is younger (at 28) and has played well (.913 SV%, 3.13 GAA) behind a poor Columbus team. He's also a pending UFA the Kings could potentially re-sign in the summer.
The NHL trade deadline is 3 p.m. on Friday.