‘Captain Canada’ is coming to Los Angeles. In need of a gritty, experienced, leader-y, decent and slightly aging Left Winger, the Los Angeles Kings have acquired the 6′1″ & 190 lbs. forward in exchange for Tommy P, Kyle Quincy (& his eyes) with a 5th round pick in the 2010 draft. The Avs dump Smyth’s $6,250,000 average a year salary, the Kings dump the inactive and disappointing Tom Preissing along with his $2,750,000 a year salary along with Quincy (an above average D-Man but odd man out) and throw in an uneventful 5th Round Pick.

Advantage, Kings. Since things didn’t quite work out with Hossa, Gaborik or Havlat, Deano went ambulance chasing with teams needing to shred payroll and scored with the Colorado Avalanche. The LA Kings get a strong, Deano-approved “Character Guy” and leader who’ll help groom the kids and someone who  isn’t afraid to crash the net and get dirty in the corners.  At first glance the salary seems high, but he’s worth it. Gotta spend money to make money. He is exactly what this team needs in this situation. Smyth is a big piece to the puzzle that is the LA Kings, he will help establish that ‘culture’ that’s been missing and he will help in recruiting hockey talent in the near future.

2001 was the last time the Los Angeles Kings achieved playoff success. This was an exciting time to be an LA Kings fan. It’s great emotion from Bob Miller and Andy Murray’s team as they took out the Detroit Red Wings.