Of interest to Calgary Flames' fans – Denis Gauthier will likely be back in the NHL next season, after the Los Angeles Kings picked up his rights from the Philadelphia Flyers after they came up short in the Brad Stuart sweepstakes. Stuart agreed to stay put with the Detroit Red Wings, for a chance to win another Stanley Cup, rather than return to California, a move which would have been made largely for lifestyle reasons. As a result, the Kings wanted to shore up their defence corps and added another physical presence to go with Matt Greene, whom they acquired from the Oilers in the Lubomir Visnovsky trade a few days ago. Essentially, the Kings took Gauthier's salary off the Flyers' hands, which saved them the trouble (and cost) of buying him out. Philadelphia buried Gauthier in the minor system last year rather than pay him his NHL salary, which became an issue after they made major payroll additions in free agency, ranging from Kimmo Timmonen and Daniel Briere to Scott Hartnell and Martin Biron.
To make the deal, the Flyers also gave up a second-rounder to the Kings in 2010, which made the deal more attractive from a L.A. perspective. The Kings continues to stockpile picks - they already had 12 choices in the 2009 draft, their own seven, plus five extras.Gauthier is just 31, but played 78 games for the Phantoms last season, scoring 18 points and registering 80 penalty minutes. In 489 career NHL games, he registered 73 points (15G,58A) and 658 penalty minutes over nine seasons.
