Two hours ago, the hockey world was abuzz over a trade which would send Marian Gaborik from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Los Angeles Kings. It fell through at the final stages. Now, however, it appears to be official: Marian Gaborik is coming to LA.
LA Kings have acquired Marian Gaborik _ still pending trade call however
— Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) March 5, 2014
Gaborik is, of course, known for two things: goalscoring, and an inability to stay healthy. After making it through all of 2011-12 and 2012-13, Gaborik suffered a broken collarbone earlier this year and missed 22 games. Gaborik scored 41 goals in 2011-12 with the New York Rangers, but just 12 in 47 games last season and 6 in 22 games this season.
The return, as confirmed on TSN, is Matt Frattin, a 2nd rounder, and a conditional 3rd rounder. Frattin came over in the Jonathan Bernier trade, but never found his footing in Los Angeles and was a healthy scratch as of late.
[UPDATE: The Blue Jackets will also eat half of Gaborik’s remaining salary. Gaborik’s salary is $7.5 million.)
We’ll have more on Marian Gaborik in the days to come.