Kings Pick Up Cloutier

The Kings acquired goaltender Dan Cloutier from the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday, hoping to upgrade a position rife with inconsistency that contributed to a second-half collapse last season.

Cloutier became obsolete in Vancouver after the Canucks acquired Roberto Luongo from the Florida Panthers and was priced to move. The Kings gave up a second-round pick in the 2007 draft and a conditional pick in 2009 tied to whether the Kings re-sign him.

General Manager Dean Lombardi has been seeking to improve the Kings’ goaltender situation. He pursued Luongo but was unable to work a deal with the Panthers or get an assurance from Luongo that he would sign a long-term deal with the Kings. He then went after Cloutier, 30, who was limited to 13 games because of a knee injury that required surgery last season and is in the final year of a two-year contract that will pay him $2.55 million this season.

“I just thought it’s something we’ve been looking at since I got here, quite frankly, because I do think it’s important that you have an established goalie in the mix,” Lombardi said. “I think it’s difficult, particularly this year, to go into training camp with an issue as to who’s No. 1 and who’s No. 2.

“We get a guy that stabilizes us in net, gives us credibility.”

Cloutier said he knew a trade was inevitable once the Canucks acquired Luongo and had asked General Manager Dave Nonis to make it as quickly as possible.

“I think it is good timing for a change of scenery, and when I heard it was L.A., I was pretty happy,” Cloutier said.

The need was apparent, according to Lombardi, who worried about the lack of experience in net for the Kings even though Mathieu Garon and Jason LaBarbera each put in a full season with the team in 2005-06.

Garon, the team’s No. 1 goaltender, was brilliant in December, when he was named the NHL’s defensive player of the month, but he gave up four or more goals in 11 of his last 16 starts.

LaBarbera won eight of his first 10 starts, but his effectiveness diminished while he dealt with a family illness.

Lombardi said he expected to trade one of them and hopes Cloutier fills the position until the organization can develop goaltending prospects.

“Obviously, we’ve got to make a decision,” Lombardi said. “It would have been tough to go into the season with two unproven goalies. Our goaltending food chain is not in sync, but we’ll get there.”

Cloutier is reunited with former Canucks coach Marc Crawford, now the Kings coach. Cloutier enjoyed regular-season success under Crawford, winning more than 30 games three consecutive seasons.

“No disrespect, but I think it’s an upgrade for the group that we have here,” Crawford said. “I think Dan is among the best competitors that I’ve ever coached.”

Still, Cloutier’s subpar play in the Stanley Cup playoffs has left him open to criticism. He has a 3.31 goals-against average in 25 playoff games and has given up some soft goals in the postseason.

“I think he also feels he’s got something to prove too, which is music to our ears,” Crawford said.

In less than a week, Lombardi has altered the Kings’ roster, adding free agents Rob Blake, Scott Thornton, Alyn McCauley and Brian Willsie, as well as Cloutier.

He made an effort to sign Detroit Red Wings forward Brendan Shanahan, an unrestricted free agent, but the $5-million price tag was too much, a league source said.

*

The Kings have hired Mike Johnston as an assistant coach and Bill Ranford as their goaltender coach.... The Kings’ Sean Avery, Eric Belanger and Michael Cammalleri have filed for arbitration.

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

The Cloutier file

The career record of goaltender Dan Cloutier, acquired Wednesday by the Kings:

*--* Season Team GP W-L-T GAA 1997-98 N.Y. Rangers 12 4- 5-1 2.50 1998-99 N.Y. Rangers 22 6- 8-3 2.68 1999-00 Tampa Bay 52 9-30-3 3.49 2000-01 Tampa Bay 25 3-13-3 3.52 2001-02 Vancouver 62 31-22-5 2.43 2002-03 Vancouver 57 33-16-7 2.42 2003-04 Vancouver 60 33-21-6 2.27 2005-06 Vancouver 13 8- 3-0 3.17

*--*

Source: NHL