Late on Tuesday night, The Los Angeles Kings alleviated their goaltending logjam and dealt last year's starter (and this year's "Wally Pipp"), Jason Labarbera to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 7th round pick in the upcoming June entry draft.
The Vancouver Canucks are currently without #1 Goaltender Roberto Luongo who is likely out until the All Star Break with a groin injury that he re-injured just days before returning to action.
While Luongo skated today for the first time since Dec. 10th, he is expected to take this round of recovery twice as slow and the target seems to be the first matchup after the All Star Game (Jan. 28th vs. Nashville) for his return to game action. In the meantime, Curtis Sanford has held his own for the Canucks and sports a 2.43 GAA and a .913 SV %, with 7 wins in 13 Games as a starter.
However, Tuesday night Sanford aggravated a groin injury himself, necessitating the deal for the King's Surplus goalie. Sanford has been placed on the IR, meaning he is on the shelf for at least a week.
Larbarbera, a British Columbia native, went 17-23 last season, with a 3.00 GAA and a respectable .910 SV % for a horrible Kings squad. This season, Labarbera is 5-8-0-4 with a 2.83 GAA and an .893 SV% and 2 Shutouts, but was surpassed by the guys behind him on the depth chart. First by Erik Ersberg, (who went 8-5-0-2, with a 2.38 SV % and an impressive .903 SV% and usurped the starter Labarbera), and then by John Quick who was recalled from the minors when Ersberg went down with injury. Quick threw 2 Shutouts in 3 games this week, while Ersberg is on the verge of returning, making Labarbera expendable. Further, the L.A. Times notes that by keeping Quick in the bigs, the deal also allows top goalie prospect Jonathan Bernier to get the majority of the starts in the AHL.
Fantasy Spin:
It's worth noting that the Canucks have obviously lost confidence in Cory Schneider's abilities as an NHL Goalie; the Canucks apparently knew Sanford had tweaked the groin at practice early Tuesday, yet played him last night anyway hoping it would hold up. It didn't, so Vancouver pulled the trigger and acquired another backstop.
Labarbera will join the Canucks on Wednesday and will likely start in Nashville Thursday night (01.01.09). When Sanford comes back, this move will let the Canucks return rookie goalie Cory Schneider to the minors to continue his development as while he's sparkled on occasion in the big show, the kid has looked awfully green for the most part.
If he goes on a run here, Labarbera could be a decent short term pickup since the Canucks will ride the hot hand until Luongo returns. If you are streaming Sanford or have Luongo, Labarbera could be a nice pickup as a handcuff for the next month.
As for the Kings, Ersberg and Quick both seem like the real deal, the only caveat is that they are both rookies. Why would the L.A. Kings put their fate in the hands of two kids? Because, much like what Carey Price did in Montreal and Steve Mason is doing in Columbus, these guys have arrived on the scene with the poise and skill of 10-year veterans. Ersberg will likely be given the chance to be the starter once again, but Quick's recent performance guarantees at least a split of the starts for the short term. Either is a good pick up for the next few weeks untill we see how it shakes out in Hollywood.
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