LOS ANGELES – When one door closes, you simply open four more.
The Los Angeles Kings made a bevy of moves on the first day of NHL Free Agency on Friday, signing four free agents.
The Kings signed goalie Jeff Zatkoff, forward Michael Latta, and defenseman Tom Gilbert and Zach Trotman to help fill out their roster.
The moves come on the heels of losing out on star forward Milan Lucic, who signed a seven-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers early Friday morning.
Lucic had previously said that re-signing with Los Angeles was a top priority, but the team was handcuffed by the overpriced contract of former captain Dustin Brown and did not have the cap room to sign Lucic.
The Kings opted for quantity and depth over quality with their available cap space and now look to fill the void left by Lucic with a multitude of players.
Zatkoff is a 29-year-old Michigan native who appeared in 14 regular season games with the Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins last season. He is expected to replace Jhonas Enroth as the backup goalie to Jonathan Quick.
Latta is a 25-year-old forward from Ontario who became a free agent after he did not receive a qualifying offer from the Washington Capitals. Latta appeared in 43 games with the Eastern Conference leaders scoring seven points over that span.
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Gilbert is a 33-year-old veteran defenseman who spent the last two seasons with the Montreal Canadiens. The Minnesota native appeared in 45 games on the back line for the Canadiens last season scoring just two points, but he led all defenseman with an average of two blocked shots per game.
Trotman is a 25-year-old Indiana native who appeared in 38 games with Boston Bruins last season scoring seven points to go with 22 penalty minutes.
LA Kings sign two RHD: Tom Gilbert and Zach Trotman. Gilbert's deal is one year, $1.4 millon — Pierre LeBrun (@Real_ESPNLeBrun) July 1, 2016
