LA Kings get Jarome Iginla from Avalanche for conditional pick

The Colorado Avalanche have traded winger Jarome Iginla to the Los Angeles Kings for a conditional 2018 fourth-round draft pick, granting the forward his wish of getting dealt to a team with a chance to make the playoffs.

The move also reunites Iginla with Darryl Sutter, his former coach and general manager with the Calgary Flames. The 39-year-old future Hall of Famer had to waive his no movement clause to make the deal happen.

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Iginla is in the final season of a three-year $16 million contract that carries a $5.33 million salary cap hit. According to TSN’s Bob McKenzie, the Avalanche will pay half of Iginla’s cap hit as part of the trade.

The condition on the draft pick reportedly is playoff related and in regards to whether Iginla re-signs with the Kings. If the conditions aren’t met then the pick reportedly disappears.

Iginla said that he is “50-50” on whether he will try to play next season.

In early February, Iginla – who ranks 16th in the NHL’s all-time goals list with 619 – publicly expressed his interest to be traded off the last place Avalanche to a team that could make the playoffs.

“I would like to, at the deadline, go somewhere,” Iginla said in an interview with Puck Daddy. “I would like to be in the playoffs. I would hope that there is some opportunity to go and play in the playoffs. Those are the best games, the most fun for sure, and you have a chance to win. So no, I haven’t given up on that chance to win.”

Iginla is in the midst of the worst season of his career and currently has eight goals and 18 points in 61 games. Recently we asked an NHL team source how the aging forward could help a contending team.

“His foot speed has slowed down and the game has sped up, which is a bad combination,” he said. “He can still shoot the puck and he will go to the hard areas. If you can put two fast players on a line with him or maybe put him in a third- or fourth-line type of role. As long as he can live and accept less minutes, the guy can still shoot the puck and play ‘net front.’ You can’t have him with one or another two slot footed guys on the line.”

In his prior three seasons, Iginla averaged 27 goals and a move to a contending group could boost his production to a degree.

The Kings currently have 66 points in 63 games – one point behind the St. Louis Blues for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. Los Angeles has been one of the more active teams in the trade deadline period, acquiring goaltender Ben Bishop from the Tampa Bay Lightning on Sunday and dealing forward Dwight Kings to the Montreal Canadiens on Wednesday.

On the Milbury scale we give this move …

ONE MILBURY: Based on the trade and its conditions, the deal was designed to give Iginla one more shot at the playoffs.

The Avalanche got something for a player who based on his age, salary and production shouldn’t have merited much of anything. Iginla has lost a few steps, but he can still shoot the puck and help LA’s power play, which ranks 23rd in the NHL.

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper