LA Kings trade Ben Bishop for draft pick, sign Tanner Pearson to four-year extension

The Los Angeles Kings have acquired a fourth-round selection in the 2017 NHL Draft from Dallas in exchange for goaltender Ben Bishop, Kings Vice President and General Manager Rob Blake announced. The fourth-round selection was previously acquired by Dallas from Montreal.

Bishop, a 30-year-old netminder from Denver, Colo., appeared in seven games with the Kings during the 2016-17 season, going 2-3-2 with a 2.49 GAA and a .900 S%. Listed at 6-7, 216 lbs., he was originally drafted by St. Louis in the third-round of the 2005 NHL Entry Draft.

The Kings originally acquired Bishop from Tampa Bay on February 26 of this year. As part of that deal Tampa Bay also sent a fifth-round selection in the 2017 NHL Draft to LA in exchange for goaltender Peter Budaj, defenseman Erik Cernak a seventh-round selection in 2017, and a conditional seventh-round selection in 2017.

This newly acquired selection gives Los Angeles a total of eight picks in this year’s NHL Draft, set for June 23-24 in Chicago. The selections are listed below:

Kings 2017 Draft Selections:
First Round: One Selection
Second Round: One Selection
Third Round: One Selection
Fourth Round: Two Selections
Fifth Round: Two Selections
Sixth Round: One Selection
Seventh Round: No Selections

In other Kings news . . .

KINGS SIGN FORWARD PEARSON TO FOUR-YEAR EXTENSION

The Los Angeles Kings have signed forward Tanner Pearson to a four-year contract, Kings Vice President and General Manager Rob Blake announced. Pearson’s contract will have an Annual Average Value (AAV) of $3.75 million.

The 24-year-old Pearson (born on Aug. 10, 1992) is a 6-1, 204-pound native of Kitchener, Ontario, who appeared in a career-high 80 games last season with the Kings. He posted career-highs in goals (24; first career 20-goal season), points (44), game-winning goals (5), power-play goals (3), shorthanded goals (1) and shorthanded points (2). Among team leaders he ranked second in goals and game-winning goals, tied for third in points, sixth in assists, fourth in plus/minus (plus-5), first in shorthanded points, tied for first in shorthanded goals, and tied for seventh in power-play goals.

A first-round (30th overall) selection of the Kings in the 2012 NHL Draft, Pearson will be entering his fifth NHL season in 2017-18 (also appeared in one postseason game with the Kings during the 2013 playoffs before playing in the 2013-14 regular season). He has appeared in 226 regular-season games posting 103 points (54-49=103), a plus-32 rating and 53 penalty minutes. In 30 playoff games with Los Angeles, Pearson has registered 15 points (5-10=15), a plus-9 rating and 10 penalty minutes.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services