Will Budaj be as good as this year? If he will be, then the Kings win this trade. If not, Tampa. It really depends on the performance of Budaj. In total I would say that this is a pretty solid trade for both with maybe the Kings getting a bit more out if it.
It's common for goalies to play better in LA than they actually are due to their good defensive play (Budaj, Kuemper, Enroth, Scrivens), so I would be willing to bet that Budaj plays well enough to be the backup, assuming he stays in LA. However they may choose to use Campbell instead and Budaj could find himself in the AHL.
It's common for goalies to play better in LA than they actually are due to their good defensive play (Budaj, Kuemper, Enroth, Scrivens), so I would be willing to bet that Budaj plays well enough to be the backup, assuming he stays in LA. However they may choose to use Campbell instead and Budaj could find himself in the AHL.
He was in Dallas, but he's put up pretty strong numbers since being traded to LA. He likely won't become a legit #1 goaltender, but he's earned a shot as the backup behind Quick.
He was in Dallas, but he's put up pretty strong numbers since being traded to LA. He likely won't become a legit #1 goaltender, but he's earned a shot as the backup behind Quick.
Maybe. Although LA does have a good, young prospect in Cal Petersen that they'd want to get a lot of starts. He put up decent numbers in 41 AHL games last year and he looks to be the heir apparent to Quick. Budaj is older and has less upside than Campbell, but in the event that Quick gets injured, I would assume they would prefer Budaj taking a larger load than Campbell. After all, he did it well two seasons ago and he's a more known quantity than Campbell. But if Quick is healthy, they probably want the younger Campbell getting spot starts to potentially groom him into a solid backup.
So long story short, it looks like Budaj will be more of an all-or-nothing guy. He's either gonna take over for Quick if he gets injured or he's gonna sit in the AHL in a backup/tandem role.
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