Kings trade Ryan Smyth to Edmonton for Colin Fraser, seventh-round pick
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The Kings on Sunday traded left wing Ryan Smyth to the Edmonton Oilers for forward Colin Fraser and a seventh-round pick in the 2012 entry draft, a move they made reluctantly and only after they reconfigured an offer from Edmonton that would have given them oft-injured forward Gilbert Brule.
The Kings thought they had a deal Friday but balked at taking Brule, contending the Oilers had not filed the proper paperwork certifying that Brule had been cleared to play following two concussions. Without that certification, the Kings would have been unable to trade, waive or demote him, as was their plan.
After the deal nearly fell apart entirely, Kings General Manager Dean Lombardi and his Edmonton counterpart, Steve Tambellini, reworked ithe trade to include Fraser, who has one year left on his contract at $825,000.
I haven’t talked to Lombardi yet but he had indicated he hadn’t planned to keep Brule. I’ll ask what his plans are for Fraser, who had only two goals and five points in 67 games with the Oilers last season. That was a disappointment for Fraser, who had career highs of seven goals and 19 points with the Chicago Blackhawks in 2009-10 when they won the Stanley Cup.
Smyth requested a trade back to Edmonton for family reasons, which surprised Lombardi and gave him almost no bargaining leverage. Smyth had 23 goals for the Kings last season, including a team-leading nine power-play goals. He has a salary cap hit of $6.25 million. His departure leaves the Kings weak on the left side, and Lombardi said he had been trying to find a replacement before the Smyth trade was finalized.
According to capgeek.com, the Kings have more than $16 million in salary cap space but a good chunk of that will be consumed by re-signing restricted free agent defenseman Drew Doughty. The two sides are still in negotiations and nowhere near a deal.
Check back later for more, at www.latimes.com/sports
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