The most shocking trade in many people's minds in the history of the NHL saw the greatest of all-time in league history, Wayne Gretzky, get traded from the Edmonton Oilers to the Los Angeles Kings in 1988. Gretzky immediately impacted the Kings' offense, scoring over 50 goals and leading the league with 114 assists in the 1988-89 season in LA.
Multiple NHL veterans of the Los Angeles Kings played with both franchise greats Wayne Gretzky and Anze Kopitar in the 1990s and 2000s
Despite Gretzky leading the league in points and winning multiple Art Ross Trophy awards during his time with the Kings in the late 1980s and the early-to-mid 1990s, LA missed the playoffs in Wayne's final three years with the team from 1994-1996.
Gretzky's time in LA did lift the franchise's profile around the league, including winning a Hart Trophy and making their first-ever Stanley Cup Finals in 1993.
Arguably the second-best Kings' player in franchise history, longtime forward and team captain Anze Kopitar, has had a great career in LA over the past couple of decades (since 2006). Thanks to efforts from great teammates like former team captain and fellow forward Dustin Brown and standout starting goaltender Jonathan Quick, Kopitar won two Stanley Cup rings with the Kings in 2012 and 2014.
Although they played with the Kings a full decade apart in the 1990s and 2000s, Gretzky and Kopitar did have a handful of shared teammates in their respective NHL careers in the past few decades.
Rob Blake, D
Years played with Gretzky: 1990-91 to 1995-96 seasons with the Kings
Years played with Kopitar: 2006-07 to 2007-08 seasons with the Kings
The greatest Kings player to get to share the ice as a teammate of both Gretzky and Kopitar is Hall-of-Fame defenseman and Stanley Cup Champion Rob Blake. The eight-time NHL All-Star selection, Blake, was a young and developing star counterpart to Gretzky, playing on the Kings' blue line in the late 1980s and early-to-mid 1990s.
Blake and Gretzky were both All-Star selections representing the Kings in the 1994 NHL All-Star Game. That came a year after the star duo helped lead LA to the franchise's first-ever Stanley Cup Finals appearance in the 1994 postseason.
After a stint with the Colorado Avalanche in the early 2000s that got Blake his first career Stanley Cup ring in 2001, he finished out his career playing with the Kings and San Jose Sharks in the mid-to-late 2000s in his late 30s. Blake played a couple of seasons with Kopitar in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 campaigns, part of a group of veteran Kings players that helped mentor and develop the young LA center Anze.
Dan Cloutier, G
Years played with Gretzky: 1997-98 to 1998-99 seasons with the Rangers
Years played with Kopitar: 2006-07 to 2007-08 seasons with the Kings
Success reached very high points in the Western Conference for former Rangers, Kings, and Vancouver Canucks goalie Dan Cloutier. Serving as a steady young backup with some great performances in his early 20s behind Mike Richter with the Rangers, Cloutier showed a lot of promise in the NHL in the late 1990s decade.
Gretzky actually netted the game-winning goal for the Rangers in Cloutier's first career appearance in the NHL in a clutch 3-2 win for New York over the Eastern Conference foe Washington Capitals. Cloutier also registered a win in his first career start in a 4-2 victory for the Rangers over the Carolina Hurricanes in 1998, including two assists from Gretzky.
Later in his career in his mid-30s with the Kings, Cloutier followed head coach Marc Crawford from the Canucks to LA, going into the 2006-07 season. Cloutier registered 28 saves in a close 4-3 loss in his first start with the Kings in the 2006-07 regular season, which also saw Kopitar net two goals in his NHL regular season debut against the Anaheim Ducks.
Despite suffering a lower-body injury early in his first season playing for the Kings in the 2006-07 campaign, Cloutier tried to play through the hip issue early in that regular season. That nagging hip injury lingered into the following offseason in the fall of 2007 for Cloutier.
Derek Armstrong, C
Years played with Gretzky: 1998-99 season with the Rangers
Years played with Kopitar: 2006-07 to 2008-09 seasons with the Kings
Longtime Kings' veteran center Derek Armstrong played most of his pro career in the NHL with the Kings in the 2000s. Armstrong was a physical and reliable two-way center for the Kings for six seasons in the 2000s, including two 40-point campaigns after the lockout in the mid-2000s.
He was one of the veteran centers that helped to mentor and guide Kopitar in his early years in the NHL with the Kings in the mid-to-late 2000s.
Armstrong actually began his NHL career playing limited games with the New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators, and the Rangers in the late 1990s. He played a handful of games as a bottom-six forward with the Rangers in the 1998-99 season, the final year of Gretzky's career in New York.