It seems that a Western Conference team aimed to make a big deadline move, and they may have set their sights on acquiring Nashville Predators superstar Juuse Saros.
Kings Tried to Acquire Saros
According to Elliotte Friedman, the LA Kings approached the Nashville Predators about a potential trade involving their standout goaltender Juuse Saros.
I do think Los Angeles made an exploratory call to Nashville about Juuse Saros. The Predators look rejuvenated post-deadline — some youthful energy helps — and, surprisingly, have a path to the playoffs. Big challenge, but playoff chases are what everyone wants.
Juuse Saros may not have been a top contender for the Vezina award on paper, but he ranks highly in GSAx, a reliable metric for measuring how valuable goaltenders are to their teams.
The LA Kings ended up acquiring Joonas Korpisalo from the Columbus Blue Jackets. It's worth wondering how the Kings would have performed with Saros in the net, as they try to win one more Stanley Cup with their aging core.
We'll have to wait a few weeks to see if Saros could have been a difference-maker difference for the Kings in the playoffs.