KINGS ACQUIRE CARTER FROM BLUE JACKETS FOR JOHNSON AND PICK

The Los Angeles Kings needed a goal scorer. The Columbus Blue Jackets simply needed a redo.

Both teams met their needs Thursday night by pulling off a major trade that sent forward Jeff Carter from Columbus to the Los Angeles Kings for defenceman Jack Johnson and a first-round draft pick in either 2012 or 2013.

If the Kings miss the playoffs this year, the Blue Jackets will get their first-round draft pick in 2013. If Los Angeles makes the playoffs, Columbus can choose either 2012 or 2013 for the pick.


Carter, 27, is expected to supply offence for the goal-starved Kings, who have scored just 129 times this season and started Thursday night in eighth place in the Western Conference.

“Even in the summer, I always felt we were a top forward away,” Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said. “Now, that said, I certainly didn’t think we were (going to be) 30th in the league in scoring.”

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=388691