Johnny Hockey to become Johnny Hollywood

Los Angeles, California - On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Kings completed one of the biggest deals in EHE franchise history, acquiring superstar winger Johnny Gaudreau and goaltender Karri Ramo from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for star goaltender Martin Jones, minor league center Ryan Rupert, and a trio of draft picks (pending league approval).

New Kings GM Jay Seo is no stranger to big trades, having already traded franchise lynchpins Brent Burns (also to the Avalanche) and Patrice Bergeron to playoff contenders in an effort to retool a struggling, veteran-heavy roster, but the Gaudreau acquisition is undoubtedly the headline trade of his regime so far. 

"This was a tremendously difficult deal to make, but our team needed elite offensive talent up front, and when Johnny became available, we had to make sure we acquired him," Seo commented.

Seo indicated that Gaudreau, 23, along with captain Jonathan Toews, will be expected to lead a new-look young core that includes the likes of Colton Parayko, Zach Werenski, Teuvo Teravainen, Brayden Point, Mike Matheson, and Miles Wood, among others.

The trade also marks an end to Martin Jones' short tenure as the Kings starter -- he was acquired in the trade that sent Shayne Gostisbehere to Tampa Bay last season -- but he should relish the prospect of joining the league-leading Avalanche and former teammate Brent Burns in advance of a Stanley Cup pursuit.  

"It wasn't easy to trade him," Seo said of trading Jones. "At the end of the day, we felt Martin deserved a chance to contend for a Stanley Cup, and he'll certainly get the chance to do that with Colorado."  

The swap also raises questions about the Kings' new goaltending situation, as it appears that Ondrej Pavelec, who will be an unrestricted free agent at season's end, will share the crease with Ramo for the time being. Indeed, with only Joonas Korpisalo and Laurent Brossoit in the pipeline, the Kings will likely have to shore up their goaltending in the near future.

When asked to comment, GM Seo preached patience.

"There will be opportunities to acquire a goaltender in the future, whether that's in free agency or via trade," Seo commented. "It's not something that the organization needs to worry about right now, and we're confident that the two netminders we have will do well for us going forward."