Elliott: Kings’ future means letting go of past and trading legendary goaltender Jonathan Quick

Every now and then, goaltender Jonathan Quick would flash his glove or kick out his leg or repel an intruding opponent from his crease with a feisty shove and it would feel like the Kings’ best years all over again.

Yet those moments had become all too rare the last few seasons for Quick, who was the most valuable player in the Kings’ surprise 2012 Stanley Cup playoff run and was up to the challenge of working even harder to help them win a second championship over a grueling 26 postseason games in 2014.

No athlete has defeated time and the indignities the passing years bring — the slower reflexes and longer recovery periods, the eager, young challengers who had your poster on their bedroom wall or grew up watching videos of your technique.

Even Quick, a Connecticut native who ranks among the best American goalies to wear the mask and pads of the profession, couldn’t make time stand still. Nor could he even pause it, so he could be part of the Kings’ next championship run.

In this, the final season of his 10-year, $58-million contract, it became painful to watch him as he became slower, almost immeasurably but enough to become vulnerable. Quick, 37, couldn’t intimidate shooters anymore, couldn’t make the big saves when the Kings most needed them.

He was the franchise leader among goalies in games (743), wins (370) and shutouts (57), but he couldn’t lift the Kings back to the level he and they had once enjoyed. A man of few words and little regard for anything but winning, he must have hated that.

There’s little room for sentiment in business or hockey, but there was a breathtaking finality to a report by highly regarded Hockey Night in Canada personality Elliotte Friedman late Tuesday that the Kings were completing a trade that will send Quick and a first-round draft pick to the Columbus Blue Jackets for goaltender Joonas Korpisalo and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov.

The trade will continue closing the door on the Kings’ most successful era, coming a few weeks after the team had unveiled a statue honoring Cup team captain Dustin Brown.

And in a bit of uncanny timing, the news broke on the same day the Chicago Blackhawks — who alternated Cup titles with the Kings from 2012-15 — traded franchise cornerstone Patrick Kane to the New York Rangers.

Only center Anze Kopitar and defenseman Drew Doughty remain with the Kings from the two Cup-winning teams, both still vital contributors to a team that stands second in the Pacific Division despite having a negative goal differential for much of the season.

Drew Doughty, from left, Jonathan Quick and Colin Fraser celebrate winning the Stanley Cup in June 2012.

(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)

But if there’s ever going to be a third championship team, the Kings had to move on and improve their goaltending and defense. General manager Rob Blake had to make decisions based on reason, not on misty memories of triumphs in days gone by.

Quick, with a 3.50 goals-against average and .876 save percentage in 31 games, wasn’t getting the job done. Pheonix Copley, a free-agent find last summer, is a great story but he has never played in an NHL playoff game.

Cal Petersen, who fumbled several chances to become Quick’s successor, remains in the minor leagues after Blake’s unwise decision to sign him to a three-year, $15-million extension. Who knows when or if Petersen will wear a Kings uniform again.

The Kings’ defense, too heavily weighted toward right-handed shooters, needed another left-handed shooter and an element of physicality. Gavrikov, 6-foot-3 and 220 pounds, should be able to provide that. He and Korpisalo are on contracts that will expire after this season, making them eligible for unrestricted free agency.

Blake had upgraded the team’s talent up front by signing Phillip Danault to a six-year, $33-million contract as a free agent in 2021. Blake upgraded again last summer by trading for winger Kevin Fiala and signing him to a seven-year, $55.125-million contract. Fiala leads the Kings in scoring.

Now, it became imperative for Blake to upgrade their defense and goaltending, and by trading away a first-round pick he showed his belief in his team and his willingness to give his players the best possible tools to go deep in the playoffs.

The Kings had been connected to negotiations for prized Arizona defenseman Jeff Chychrun, but Blake might have decided the price was too high and that Gavrikov could bring the same kind of edge at a lower price. More could happen before the NHL trade deadline hits at noon Pacific time Friday.

What’s sad is that Quick didn’t have a chance to say goodbye to Los Angeles, to skate off after a big win and raise his stick in tribute toward fans who have watched him mature from a kid whose work habits were questioned into a man, a husband, father, playoff MVP and two-time winner of the Jennings award as the goalie on the team that gave up the fewest goals.

Someday, a statue of Quick will stand alongside the newly installed likeness of Brown. He has earned that, and more. But he couldn’t stop or pause time, and the Kings’ path back toward the top of the hockey world will not include him.