Blues acquire D. King

By TIM WHARNSBY -- Toronto Sun In a weird sort of way, Maple Leafs defenceman Bryan Berard has given Derek King a fresh start.
King, a veteran left winger who played in just three of the Leafs' nine games this season, was traded to the St. Louis Blues last night for minor-league defenceman Tyler Harlton. The teams also swapped middle-round draft picks and the Leafs will pick up a portion of King's $1.65-million US salary.
The deal came together quickly after Blues winger Geoff Courtnall suffered a concussion last Saturday when he was nailed in the head by Berard, who was suspended for two games for the open-ice hit. Courtnall's NHL future is in doubt.
"We weren't shopping (King) around," Leafs general manager/coach Pat Quinn said. "St. Louis approached us and it went pretty quick.
"Derek had a tremendous year for us last year (scoring 24 goals), especially helping in the development of his linemates, Alyn McCauley and Mike Johnson."
King, 32, fell out of favour with the Leafs when he scored just one goal in 16 playoff games last spring.
Quinn also wasn't impressed with King's training camp.

'No grudge'
On top of that was the emergence of rookie Nik Antropov and Todd Warriner's improvement.
"I hold no grudge," said King, a Hamilton native. "Pat explained the situation before the season started.
"Do I want to leave? No. This is a good bunch of guys, a classy organization.
"I got to play with a team that I dreamed about playing with when I was a kid.
"I need to play. I can't be sitting here. It's a fresh start."
In St. Louis, King could be reunited with centre Pierre Turgeon, his linemate in his days with the New York Islanders.
Harlton, 23, of Regina, played at Michigan State. A 1994 fourth-round pick, he was not among the Blues' top-12 defencemen on their depth chart.

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