Joined: May 2016
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Quick hasn't been great, but he hasn't exactly had much help either. I actually think he was good last night. 3 of the 5 goals against were on the PK and due to absolutely abysmal penalty killing by the Kings defense. He maybe should have stopped one of the other two. I won't defend his first two outings this season, as they were pretty awful, but last night was progress. I think throwing the towel on him now is premature.
Same with Campbell. He has been solid and has actually made some pretty spectacular saves in his 2 games so far. The defense is taking a dump in front of him. However, as McLellan has said, they're 5 games into a major system overhaul. It's not going to happen overnight. Expect to see more blowouts (both in favor and against the Kings) as the season progresses.
With this new system, the days of Jennings trophy contention is gone for LA. Better get used to it. I wouldn't count on Quick retiring either, as he's still owed a pretty large amount of money over his last 3 seasons. Not to mention that since his contract was signed prior to the current CBA, the Kings would get hit with recapture penalties even if he did retire early.
I think the Kings will explore trade options for Quick, but if the best they can do is a 7th from Columbus, I think you're right that they won't insult him like that. I don't think they'll explore buyout as an option until summer of 2021 to see if Seattle might take a chance on him, much like LA did when they took aging future Hall of Famer Terry Sawchuk to give the franchise a big name player that they could advertise around. If they don't, then the Kings can buy him out that summer. Those are the only scenarios where I can see Quick leaving LA before his contract expires.