Obviously, the topic de jour around the Kings locker room following practice today was the trade of Jack Johnson to Columbus. In an effort to push out as much of the content as possible, we’ll streamline the ‘story’ we wrap around things and try to simply post more of the raw comments.
In speaking with Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown, Mike Richards, Willie Mitchell, etc. it seems that only Matt Greene actually spoke with Johnson last night (the others exchanged several text messages with him). Here’s Greene with some insight into what went down…
On the trade – “You have to give something to get something. We need scoring. Jack is an awesome d-man and sometimes that’s what you have to give up to get what you need. And that’s what we needed, scoring.”
On yesterday – “I talked to him pretty early on. He actually let me know the deal was done…I said it was just too bad he was getting out of here. I liked playing with him. He’s a good guy, great player. It will help them out a lot. He’ll get a chance to play a little bit more too. He’s going to be a guy to eat up a lot of minutes for a long time for those guys. So, it helps them out. Plus, we get a guy coming back who’s going to help us out too.”
On Johnson’s mood last night – “It’s tough, it’s a weird feeling when you get the call that you’ve been traded. I’ve been through it one time and I think you’re still in shock and awe (when it happens)…so, speaking from experience, I think he was in shock last night.”
Is that maybe why he reached out to you, for some advice or insight on your experience? – “Yeah, that and we were roomies on the road for the last four years. We’ve been in each other’s lives everyday for the last four years…he’s a friend as much as (he was a) teammate.”
Plenty more to come. In the meantime, please check the related links below to see if you’ve missed any of the coverage over the last few days.
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