Two years into his time in Denver, Ryan Smyth is once again on the move.
The Colorado Avalanche have traded Smyth to the Los Angeles Kings for puck-moving defenceman Kyle Quincey, blueliner Tom Preissing and a fifth-round pick.
Smyth, who posted 26 goals and 33 assists in 77 games last season, said he's excited about heading to L.A.
"They have great young players," he said. "I've always thought the world of (Anze) Kopitar since playing against him at the World Championships in Austria where he dominated. To play with him and Drew Doughty and (Dustin) Brown...these are great young players and I'm excited about that."
"Ryan is the type of player who fits with our team," Kings general manager Dean Lombardi said in a statement. "He fills an important need as he is a competitive, gritty scoring left winger, and he fits with the overall identity we continue to build here."
The 33-year-old spent most of the first 12 seasons of his career with the Oilers, but after failing to reach a contract agreement, he was dealt to the New York Islanders at the trade deadline in 2007.
In that off-season he signed a five-year, $31.25 million deal with the Avalanche.
"As a family, we've really enjoyed Colorado," he said. "It's been a great place to play and a great place to live and I really think if our team had been healthy over the last two years we would have been a lot better."
Smyth said he wasn't surprised when his agent Don Meehan called to present the offer and ask if he was willing to waive no-move clause.
"With management and coaching changes, I didn't know, but there was talk of rebuilding and moving salary, so I wasn't surprised."
Smyth, also know as Captain Canada for his long resume of playing internationally, was invited to Canada's Olympic orientation camp set for the end of August.
In 920 career games, the Banff, Alberta native has 310 goals and 350 assists.
Quincey finally got a shot to play on a regular basis and thrived last season, posting four goals and 34 assists. The 23-year old was stellar on the power-play where he notched 27 of his points.
The 30-year old Preissing played 22 games for the Kings last season, recording 3 goals and 4 assists.
The addition of Quincey should help the Avalanche offence, which had the lowest goal total of any team in the league last season, as well as their 25th ranked power play.
"We are pleased to be adding two quality NHL defensemen," Avalanche general manager Greg Sherman said in a statement. "Kyle and Tom are both versatile players who can contribute at both ends. They will add defensive depth to our lineup."