Kings Trade Rychel and Acquire Burridge

Left wing Warren Rychel, traded twice in one day, moved all the way from one Toronto hotel room to another on Friday.

Rychel was there with the Kings for tonight’s game against the Maple Leafs. But he switched sides when the Kings acquired veteran left wing Randy Burridge from Washington for Rychel, and the Capitals then traded Rychel to Toronto for a fourth-round draft choice in the 1995 or 1997 entry draft.

“It’s unbelievable,” said Rychel, who played in seven games this season without scoring a point.

“You have no control over these things. Tomorrow, what am I supposed to do? Line up against these guys?”

The Kings, in last place in the Western Conference, are in desperate need of scoring, and Burridge, 29, is coming off a 25-goal, 42-point season. He has appeared in only two games for Washington this season, however, and has not scored a point.

There has been some sentiment that Rychel, 27, wasn’t as hungry as he was in his first season with the Kings, 1992-93.

“To be honest, I’m shocked,” he said. “I heard I was rumored to be going to a couple of teams, but I can’t think that clearly right now. I played hard.

“I knew something was up since I was on the bench.

“Maybe it was because (Eric) Lacroix makes a third of what I make.”

Burridge was scheduled to join the Kings in Toronto late Friday night and is expected to be in the lineup tonight.

In 509 games, the 5-foot-9, 185-pound Burridge has 156 goals, 176 assists and 400 penalty minutes, having played the last three-plus seasons for the Capitals. In 1991-92, he had career-high totals of 44 assists and 67 points and appeared in the All-Star game.

But he was checked into the boards on March 1, 1992, and his left knee collapsed. Since then, Burridge has had ligament surgery on both knees. He performed well last season but has been said to be a step slow lately.