Almost 13 years after the Flames lost to the Tampa Bay Lightning in seven games in the Stanley Cup Final, Sutter and Iginla were reunited. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Kings acquired the veteran right wing in a trade with the Colorado Avalanche for a conditional fourth-round pick in the 2018 NHL Draft. Iginla can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
Iginla, 39, is in the final season of a three-year, $16 million contract with an average annual value of $5.333 million, according to CapFriendly.com.
With the Avalanche in last place in the NHL standings, Iginla indicated in January he would be open to a change of scenery, for one more serious run at the Cup. The Kings, one point out of the second wild card into the Stanley Cup Playoffs from the Western Conference, recently expressed interest.
"L.A. was one I heard about first," Iginla said Wednesday. "And once I did, I was very excited about it and just to go with that. Their track record, their success as an organization and the guys they have there, I jumped at it."
Iginla has 1,291 points (619 goals, 672 assists) in 1,535 NHL games during 20 seasons with the Avalanche, Boston Bruins, Pittsburgh Penguins and Flames. He is third among active NHL players in points behind Jaromir Jagr of the Florida Panthers (1,903) and Joe Thornton of the San Jose Sharks (1,381).