Burke on board

Not a bad deal, if you asked my opinion. Perhaps not as long-term as Robert Esche would have been, but it gives you two distinctive advantages to see Sean Burke in the Kings uniform:

1. It enables to send Yutaka Fukufuji back to the AHL first (eventually to the ECHL) right away for him to work on his mechanics and continue on the regular learning curve at his level. At the same time, as soon as Mathieu Garon comes back from the injured ring finger, it enables to send Barry Brust to the AHL to continue to back up Jason LaBarbera for the Monarchs. By that time, Burke will play every 5th game only.

2. Burke's contract is as low as you can get'em. Rounding off to full numbers LA will pay roughly 700K for the remainder of the season for his services and sparing the careers of Fukufuji and Brust. Not a steep price. Moreover, the contract is off the books after April.

Overall, while I would have liked to deal with Philly to get Esche, snatching up Burke while not giving away anything is probably second best Dean Lombardi could do.