Tha Carter
So let me see if I’m doing my math correctly here…
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So Dean Lombardi is able to bring in a player with nearly 200 goals in his first 500 games for an expendable defenseman and a #1 pick in either the 2012 or 2013 draft? And this player is best friends with Mike Richards? And he didn’t have to trade his backup goalie? Why that’s enough to make anyone associated with the Los Angeles Kings smile!
Oh… this is awkward.
I’m fine with this trade. So Jeff Carter is a bad boy. You know what… Bobby Hull was drunk for most of his career. But he put the puck in the net, so who cares? If Jeff Carter comes to LA and can score goals then he can spend his nights clubbing with Brad Richardson for all I care. Because he can do this.
Of course, as LA Kings fans, we have to approach any acquisition for a goal scoring forward carefully. Because everyone thought Dustin Penner would come to LA and score goals non-stop, myself included. But Jeff Carter kinda has a better resume than Dustin Penner, except for that pesky Stanley Cup win when Penner was a rookie. Carter won 2 gold medals at the World Juniors and is tied as Canada’s all-time leading scorer for the tournament. In 2005, Carter won a Calder Cup with the Philadelphia Flyers. And he’s been a consistent goal scorer his entire career. Oh, and has anyone mentioned… HE’S MIKE RICHARDS BEST FRIEND.
Holy shit, look at that playoff run in the AHL in 2005.
But what kind of a player is Jeff Carter? We asked our Flyers East friend, Flyers Goal Scored By, for the low down on Carter.
I just felt a great disturbance in the force. As if millions of Los Angeles coeds suddenly cried out in pleasure, and were suddenly silenced. Jeff Carter is a Los Angeles King. The Kings traded away a guy that can disappear from his defensive role for a guy that can disappear from his offensive role. A move had to be made to jumpstart the Kings offense, and this will do it. A happy Jeff Carter is a productive Jeff Carter, and nobody makes him happier than Mike Richards. Carter is the caramel whipped cream to Richards BROcchiato. Carter is big, has an excellent, albeit erratic, shot and can play center or wing. He’s going to fit right in the way Matt Brody fit into Baywatch. He will disappear in the playoffs, but until then, it’ll be a great show in Tinseltown.
So Jeff Carter and Mike Richards are in Tinseltown, huh?
He just doesn’t know how to quit Richards.
In terms of what the LA Kings gave up for Jeff Carter and his 11-year contract… I’m totally fine with it. In fact, the bigger loss is now two years in a row without a 1st overall draft pick. There has been an outpouring of stories on the internet today covering exactly how overrated Jack Johnson is as a NHL defenseman. Johnson was labeled a “can’t miss” prospect growing up as the poster boy for USA Hockey. But the truth is that Jack Johnson is a slightly above average defenseman who will probably play better in Columbus as the #1 guy instead of the #2 guy in Los Angeles. And if any real LA Kings fan is so distraught over the trading of Jack Johnson… then that person was probably more of a fan of Johnson’s cheekbones than his play in the defensive end.
My god they are amazing.
I mean is anyone really surprised that a superstar Los Angeles King center worked with team management to trade for one of his best friends?
Nope.
Let’s just hope that this Los Angeles Kings trade deadline deal for Carter is better than the last Los Angeles Kings trade deadline deal for Carter.
15 games as a LA King.
0 goals, 1 assists, 1 points.
