Kings trade Carl Grundstrom to Sharks for Kyle Burroughs

On the day before the 2024 National Hockey League Entry Draft, there was an intriguing trade among two California-based NHL teams on Thursday. The San Jose Sharks traded defenseman Kyle Burroughs of Vancouver, British Columbia to the Los Angeles Kings for right winger Carl Grundstrom of Umea, Sweden.

Kyle Burroughs

Unlike what some people might think, Kyle Burroughs is absolutely no relation to former Vancouver Canucks left winger Alex Burrows, even though Kyle and Alex’s last name is pronounced the same and the fact the two players have a Vancouver connection.

Burroughs is joining his fourth NHL franchise. He was previously with the Colorado Avalanche in 2020-21, the Canucks from 2021 to 2023, and the Sharks in 2023-24. This past season in northern California, Burroughs had two goals and six assists for eight points in 73 games. He was a -42 with 71 penalty minutes, one game-winning goal, one power-play point, 79 shots on goal, 134 blocked shots, 233 hits, 29 takeaways and 20 giveaways.

Burroughs’s two goals came in Sharks wins. The first goal came on January 20 in a 5-3 Sharks win over the Anaheim Ducks. Burroughs scored from Tomas Hertl of Praha, Czech Republic at 17:33 of the second period which put the Sharks up 2-1 at the time. Burroughs’s second goal came on April 11 in a 3-1 Sharks win over the Seattle Kraken. Burroughs scored from left winger William Eklund of Stockholm, Sweden and dedenseman Henry Thrun of Southborough, Massachusetts at 14:46 of the second period. The goal was also a game-winning goal and put the Sharks up 2-1 at the time.

Burroughs’s power-play point also came in a Sharks win. It came on February 15 in a 6-3 Sharks win over the Calgary Flames. Burroughs recorded a power-play assist on a goal by Like Kunin of Chesterfield, Missouri. At the time, the Sharks went up 3-1 at 12:30 of the second period.

Carl Grundstrom

Grundstrom, who has spent the last six seasons with the Kings, had eight goals and four assists for 12 points in 50 games in 2023-24. He was a -2 with 12 penalty minutes, one power-play point, one shorthanded point, and one game-winning goal. Grundstrom also had 95 shots on goal, two faceoff wins, 16 blocked shots, 115 hits, 10 takeaways, and 13 giveaways.

Grundstrom’s game-winning goal came on November 25, 2023 in a 4-0 Kings win over the Montreal Canadiens. Grundstrom scored from left winger Pierre-Luc Dubois of Ste-Agathes-des-Monts, Quebec and defenseman Andreas Englund of Stockholm, Sweden at 15:28 of the first period to open the scoring.