Kings Get New Goaltender

The specter of an owners’ lockout vanished for a day, replaced by the arrival of a new goaltender and a 17-year-old Finnish forward who provided hope for the Kings’ future, whenever that may be.

The Kings acquired up-and-coming goaltender Mathieu Garon from the Montreal Canadiens, serving notice to the often-unpredictable Roman Cechmanek that there will be competition at No. 1 goaltender.

Garon, 26, was obtained in a delayed three-way deal that started with the Kings’ acquisition of center Radek Bonk in a salary dump from the Ottawa Senators for a third-round selection in Saturday’s NHL draft.

Bonk was with the Kings for about six minutes before he was sent to Montreal with backup goaltender Cristobal Huet for Garon and the Canadiens’ third-round draft pick.

If Bonk is removed from the equation, the Kings essentially traded Huet to the Canadiens for Garon and a swap of third-round picks, with the Kings slipping from 77th overall to 95th in Saturday’s draft.

“We’re happy with our day,” King General Manager Dave Taylor said. “We’ve been talking with the Canadiens about Mathieu for a while now. We were looking for a good young goaltender to bring into our system with the ability to eventually develop into a good No. 1, and we think Mathieu has that potential.”

As for the more distant future, the Kings selected right wing Lauri Tukonen with the 11th pick in the first round Saturday, taking a player generally considered to be among the top five in an otherwise weak draft.

But the three-way trade was the league’s biggest deal of the day.

The Senators were not going to re-sign Bonk, a restricted free agent who made $3.5 million last season, so they packaged him to the Kings, unaware that the Kings would turn around and send him to Montreal, an Eastern Conference rival that will sign Bonk.

Bonk, 28, had 12 goals and 32 assists in 66 games for Ottawa last season, but he had only two assists in seven playoff games. The Kings were not interested in keeping Bonk after they acquired him.

“We could have had that option and we could use some help at center, but Mathieu Garon was the player that we were after here,” Taylor said. “Acquiring Bonk at the salary that he had was a little high for us, but it really worked out for us.”

Garon has had scant playing time the last four seasons in Montreal because he had backed up one of the league’s top goalies, Jose Theodore. Garon was 8-6-2 last season with a 2.27 goals-against average. He stopped 46 shots in Montreal’s 4-2 victory over the Kings in March.

“I had good times in Montreal, but for my career, I think this is the best for me,” Garon said. “Hopefully, I’m going to have more ice time in L.A. I was never frustrated in Montreal because I knew [Theodore] was one of the best in the league, but one thing’s for sure -- I want to play more.”

Garon has one year left on his contract for $1.1 million. The Kings then have an option of re-signing him for one more year at $1.6 million.

Tukonen, who turns 18 in September, was considered the third-best prospect by the Hockey News and the fifth-best prospect by the Red Line Report, which labeled him a “potentially dominant two-way power winger.” Tukonen, listed at 6 feet 2 and 200 pounds, was the youngest player in the Finnish Elite League last season as a member of the Espoo Blues. He has a powerful stride and is tough to move in front of the net during power plays.

“This is real fantastic to play for the Kings, where Jari Kurri played a few years ago,” Tukonen said. “He was one of my heroes. He was a great player.”

With their third-round selection, the Kings drafted defenseman Paul Baier, who will be a freshman at Brown in the fall.

The Kings did not have a second-round selection because of the trade that brought Cechmanek from the Philadelphia Flyers last year.

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Looking Ahead

The top three selections in the NHL draft Saturday at the RBC Center in Raleigh, N.C.:

FIRST ROUND

1. Washington, Alexander Ovechkin, lw, Moscow Dynamo (Russia)

2. Pittsburgh, Evgeni Malkin, c-w, Magnitogorsk (Russia)

3. Chicago, Cameron Barker, d, Medicine Hat (WHL)

Mighty Ducks and Kings selections:

MIGHTY DUCKS

* Ladislav Smid: Rd. 1 (9), d, Liberec (Czech Republic)

* Jordan Smith: Rd. 2 (39), d, Sault Ste. Marie (OHL)

* Kyle Klubertanz: Rd. 3 (74), d, Green Bay (USHL)

* Tim Brent: Rd. 3 (75), c, Toronto-St. Michael’s (OHL)

KINGS

* Lauri Tukonen: Rd. 1 (11), w, Blues (Finland).

* Paul Baier: Rd. 3 (95), d, Deerfield Academy, Mass.

TEAM-BY-TEAM DRAFT LIST, Page D14