NHL teams
Pierre LeBrun, ESPN Senior Writer 9y

Rumblings: Milan Lucic replaces Justin Williams in Los Angeles

The acquisition of Milan Lucic by the Los Angeles Kings has an impact on a couple of different fronts.

First, it means Justin Williams is gone now, which was likely anyway, but Lucic literally replaces Williams on the roster. And he replaces him at half of what Williams will cost in his new unrestricted free agent deal. That’s because Kings general manager Dean Lombardi once again showed his amazing shrewdness, getting the Bruins to eat almost half of Lucic’s $6 million cap hit and salary.

The Kings had to send a first-round pick, prospect Colin Miller and backup goalie Martin Jones to Boston for Lucic; those were assets that would have potentially been in play in a Mike Richards trade.

The Kings arrived here in South Florida with the No. 1 priority of dealing Richards and his $5.75 million cap hit. But just couldn’t generate any real interest despite the fact they would have thrown in a top prospect and perhaps even make Jones part of it.

In Lucic, meanwhile, the Kings get a motivated player on the last season of his deal. I’m guessing you’re going to see the Lucic of old next season.

And some front-office staff from divisional rival teams when learning of Lucic’s arrival in their group, well, let’s just say they weren’t thrilled.

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