Wed, Mar 5, 2014 at 1:21pm

GABORIK GOES TO THE KINGS

The Los Angeles Kings acquired winger Marian Gaborik from the Columbus Blue Jackets for winger Matt Frattin, a conditional second-round draft pick in 2014 or 2015 and conditional third-round draft pick.

What does it give the Los Angeles Kings
The Kings are a Stanley Cup contender, but they need more offense in order to win again. Enter Gaborik, who won't stay in Los Angeles very long if he doesn't mesh with the rest of the club. However, if he does, this could end up being one of the best deadline deals in a while. Gaborik is 32 now, but few have his skill set when healthy. The key for him has been an inability to stay off injured reserve. If that changes, the Kings could move up the Cup contending charts and be one of the favorites.

What does it give the Columbus Blue Jackets
The Jackets were never a good fit for Gaborik, so there's a little bit of addition by subtraction going on here. That said, Frattin adds more speed for their bottom-six forward group. He has fallen quite a bit since his early run in Toronto, but should fit in nicely with Columbus. The Jackets also get two quality draft picks in the deal, which is a pretty good return for a budding UFA they weren't going to re-sign.

Fantasy impact
Gaborik could have a big fantasy impact down the stretch, especially if he meshes with either {P Anze Kopitar} or {P Mike Richards} in LA. Frattin won't have much fantasy value, either had he stayed in LA or now that he's with the Jackets. He'll be used more as a checker.