They were dominant in beating Western Conference foes Vancouver, St. Louis and Phoenix before they eliminated the New Jersey Devils in six games.
The Kings got clutch goals and opportunistic play from Jeff Carter, Dustin Brown and Mike Richards, but perhaps the biggest factor was the brilliant play of Jonathan Quick. In addition to making consistent clutch saves, Quick walked away with the Conn Smythe trophy and earned himself a new contract in the process.
But while the Kings have one of the best No. 1 goaltenders in the league, they also have a solid backup goalie in Jonathan Bernier. However, Bernier does not want to be the No. 2 goalie.
He was selected by the Kings with the 11th pick in the 2006 draft and he wants to be a starter.
He has played 48 games for the Kings in four seasons and has a 20-17-5 record with a 2.50 goals against average and .910 save percentage with five shutouts.
He has been fairly solid in the opportunities that he has had, but he has not established himself. He would like to be traded so he can get the chance to show what he can do when asked to play more regularly (source: RantSports.com).
The Toronto Maple Leafs are looking at Bernier, according to Doug McIntyre of ESPN.com, as reported by MyNHLTradeRumors.com. This would appear to be a no-brainer since the Leafs' goaltending has been so inconsistent.
The Chicago Blackhawks have received slightly above-average goaltending from Corey Crawford since he took over for Antti Niemi after the 2010 championship run. That may not be good enough to get back to the highest level. Bringing in Bernier would give the Blackhawks another option in goal (source: YardBarker.com).
The Tampa Bay Lightning fell from grace last season after their goaltending let them down. Steve Yzerman has brought in go...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Kings
