Kings Acquire Dustin Penner at Trade Deadline, Re-Sign Williams
Edmonton Oilers Dustin Penner (27, right) traded to the Los Angeles Kings. (AP Photo/Jim Mone)
Edmonton Oilers forward Dustin Penner joins the ranks of Sean O'Donnell, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma, Lubomir Visnovsky and Kyle Calder: players who have played for both the Ducks and the Kings.
The Kings acquired the 28-year old Penner from the Oilers in exchange for a minor-league defenseman Colten Teubert, a first-round pick in the upcoming draft in June and a third-round pick in 2012. Penner has two seasons left on his five-year $21.25 deal and will have a $4.25 million cap hit this season and next season.
Penner, at 6-foot-4 and 245 pounds, will add another physical big body in front of the net that is condusive to the Kings current offensive philosophy. It was his size that helped the Ducks win the Stanley Cup in 2007.
On the back end, the Kings didn't give up much most notably keeping 2010 first-round draft pick Brayden Schenn.
"In terms of us ever considering a player of Schenn's category, we never had to agonize over whether we were going to do something," Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said about ruling Schenn out of any trade talks.
As for the Penner trade specifically, Lombardi said, "Not only does it fit for as a player and a need, obviously the left wing was kind of sticking out, but also it's not a cost-prohibitive contract. It doesn't stop us from going out and be aggressive in the summer for the right player."
With only giving up Teubert and a couple of draft picks, one of which is in this year's draft that is projected to be a pretty thin draft, Lombardi showed confidence in the team as it was constituted while supplementing it.
"I think one of the things that drives this though is that we were pretty proud of the team the way we came out of that second slide," Lombardi said. "This is one of those times when you look at your team and you say, 'You know what, they deserve some help.'"
"I enjoyed my time here," Penner told the gathered media in Edmonton at Rexall Place. "It's tough. You form relationships that extend beyond the hockey world."
Earlier in the day, the Kings also signed forward Justin Williams to a four-year contract extension worth $14.6 million.
"I'm happy it's done," Williams said. "I'm happy to be here, and I'm happy to be a part of the team."