TRADE DEFICIT: 2014 EDITION
For us long-time LA Kings fans, there is a little bit of a running joke when it comes to the NHL Trade Deadline. It seems that every time the LA Kings go after a player to help increase their scoring… that said player completely forgets how to play the game of hockey and their time is spent in Los Angeles being a shell of themselves.
Well, the truth comes out in jest. So I decided to take a deep statisical look at the players that the Los Angeles Kings have acquired via trade since Wayne Gretzky came to town. Be it at the Trade Deadline or any other time during the season and off season, these players were brought to LA specifically to be inserted into a Top 6 scoring roll… so that’s why you won’t see Freddy Modin or Jeff Halpern as part of this statistical case study.
Your 2010 NHL Trade Deadline acquisitions. One of whom was traded for Teddy Purcell.
THE RULES
I looked back at every major trade acquisition by the LA Kings since the Gretzky trade. The players I’ve identified were brought in for the specific intent to score goals. I measured the Points Per Game that they had averaged for only the team they had been playing for before the trade and then compared that PPG to what they averaged for the remainder of their LA Kings career. It’s a little something I like to call…
JANUARY 20th, 1990
Tomas Sandstrom and Tony Granato are traded to the LA Kings for fan favorite, Bernie Nicholls.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
+ .13
Wow, Tomas Sandstrom’s points per games went up .13 after his trade to the Kings! I’m sure playing on Gretzky’s right side had nothing to do with that. As for Tony Granato…
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
+ .03
Ok, we are two trades into my thesis and both the players that were acquired to score points had an increase their PPG as members of the LA Kings. So why are Kings fans always complaining?
MAY 30th, 1991
The Kings acquire Jeff Chychrun and Jari Kurri from Philadelphia (!) for Steve Duchesne, Steve Kasper and a 4th round choice in the 1991 NHL Entry Draft.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .51
FEBRUARY 19th, 1992
The LA Kings acquire Paul Coffey from Pittsburgh as part of a 3-way deal that involved the Philadelphia Flyers for Brian Benning, Jeff Chychrun and a first-round choice in the 1992 NHL Entry Draft. (The Flyers selected Jason Bowen with the LA Kings 1st round pick.)
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .27
JULY 29th, 1994
The LA Kings acquire Rick Tocchet and a second-round choice in the 1995 NHL Entry Draft (Pavel Rosa) from Pittsburgh for Luc Robitaille.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .28
JULY 8th, 1995
The LA Kings acquire Byron Dafoe and Dimitri Khristich from Washington for a first-round choice in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft (Alexandre Volchkov) and a fourth-round choice in the 1996 NHL Entry Draft.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
+ .02
JANUARY 25th, 1996
The LA Kings acquire Kevin Stevens from Boston for Rick Tocchet.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .03
AUGUST 29th, 1997
The LA Kings acquire Jozef Stumpel, Sandy Moger and a 1998 fourth-round draft choice from the Boston Bruins for Byron Dafoe and Dimitri Khristich.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
+.21
DECEMBER 18th, 1998
The LA Kings acquire Donald Audette from Buffalo for a second-round choice in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .02
JUNE 20th, 1999
The LA Kings acquire Ziggy Palffy, Marcel Cousineau, Bryan Smolinski and a fourth-round choice in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft from the New York Islanders for Mathieu Biron, Josh Green, Olli Jokinen and a first-round choice in the 1999 NHL Entry Draft (Taylor Pyatt).
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
+ .07
FEBRUARY 21st, 2001
The LA Kings acquire Adam Deadmarsh, Aaron Miller, a player to be named later (Jared Aulin), a first-round choice in the 2001 NHL Entry Draft (David Steckel)
and a first-round choice in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft (Brian Boyle) from Colorado for Rob Blake and Steven Reinprecht.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
+ .09
OCTOBER 24th, 2001
The LA Kings acquire Jason Allison and Mikko Eloranta from Boston for Glen Murray and Jozef Stumpel.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
+.04
MARCH 16th, 2002
The LA Kings acquire Cliff Ronning from Nashville for Jere Karalahti and a conditional choice in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .42
NOVEMBER 30th, 2003
The LA Kings acquire Martin Straka from Pittsburgh for Sergei Anshakov and Martin Strbak.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .42
MARCH 8th, 2004
The LA Kings acquire Anson Carter from Washington for Jared Aulin. (Please read this HF Boards thread about this trade.)
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .46
AUGUST 4th, 2005
The LA Kings acquire Jeremy Roenick and a third-round choice in the 2006 NHL Entry Draft (Bud Holloway) from Philadelphia for future considerations.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .39
MARCH 8th, 2006
The LA Kings acquire Mark Parrish and Brent Sopel from the New York Islanders for Denis Grebeshkov and Jeff Tambellini.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .19
MARCH 4th, 2009
The LA Kings acquire right wing Justin Williams from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Patrick O’Sullivan and a second round selection in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft as part of a three-team trade involving Carolina and Edmonton.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .11
FEBRUARY 28th, 2011
The LA Kings acquired Dustin Penner from the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Colten Teubert, a first-round pick in 2011 (Oscar Klefbom) and a conditional third-round pick in 2012.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .27
JUNE 23rd, 2011
The LA Kings acquire center Mike Richards from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for Wayne Simmonds, Brayden Schenn and a second round selection in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
– .13
FEBRUARY 23rd, 2012
The LA Kings acquire Jeff Carter from the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jack Johnson and a 2012 or 2013 conditional first- round pick (2013 Marko Dano).
POINTS PER GAME DIFFERENTIAL
+ .06
So what have we learned with this exercise?
Only 8 of the 21 players that the LA Kings traded for increased their Points Per Game upon arriving in Los Angeles. Sure, Jason Allison, Adam Deadmarsh and Ziggy Palffy all increased their scoring from their previous teams… but their time in Los Angeles was mostly spent injured. On the other hand, to show that sometimes trades just aren’t about the numbers… Justin Williams, Mike Richards and Dustin Penner all suffered significant decreases in their PPG once landing in LA…but I think we all know how that turned out.
*special thanks to our pal, @ironsightdesign, for his AMAZING inf0-graphics.*
