Only One Left From Trade

Craig Johnson was a bit taken aback when he got the news six years ago. He and two other forwards, along with a first-round draft choice, had been traded to the Kings from the St. Louis Blues for Wayne Gretzky, the NHL’s all-time scoring leader and Johnson’s childhood hero.

“It was a little weird,” he says, “to be traded for the greatest player of all time. Not all of us combined could come close to filling his shoes.”

Weirder still--or perhaps not, considering the Kings’ history--is that Johnson, a 30-year-old defense-first forward whose 153 points in eight NHL seasons are 62 fewer than the record 215 Gretzky scored in the best of his 20, is all the Kings have to show for the Feb. 27, 1996, deal.

Roman Vopat, considered the top player acquired by the Kings, scored six goals in 133 NHL games but has been out of the league since 1999. Patrice Tardif, who scored seven goals in 65 NHL games, has been out of the league since 1996. And Matt Zultek, selected by the Kings with the 15th pick in the 1997 draft, has never played in the NHL, though he still toils in the Philadelphia Flyer organization.

Johnson, meanwhile, soldiers on, a regular in the King lineup. Outstanding skating ability and a seemingly unquenchable work ethic--he carries 6.5% body fat, lowest on the team--have allowed him to remain in the NHL despite abdominal and ankle injuries that could have ended his career.

“I think if you work hard and compete and bring respect to your job,” he says of his longevity, “people are going to recognize that.”

The trade couldn’t have worked out better for him. He met wife Brittany, an Orange County native, and started a family. Their boys, Eric, 4, and Ryan, 1, are frequent visitors to practice, and a baby girl is due in February.

“When Kings fans look at it and see I’m the only one left from the Gretzky trade, I’m sure they’re a little frustrated,” he says. “But it’s nothing I can control.”

He didn’t ask to be part of the deal. But he would like a souvenir.

“Ever since I was traded for him, I’ve always wanted him to sign a stick and give it to me,” says Johnson, who will join his teammates at Gretzky’s jersey-retirement dinner tonight at Staples Center, “but I’ve always been afraid to ask.

“Maybe you can put that in the paper.”