The defending champions Detroit Red Wings saw the need for a puck-moving defenseman and gave up center Sean Avery, defenseman Maxim Kuznetsov, a 2003 1st round pick (#27-Jeff Tambellini) and a 2004 2nd round pick (#64-Martins Karsums), for Mathieu Schneider, who had 14 goals and 29 assists.

“I'm very excited to get the chance to win the Stanley Cup. And if there was one team I wanted to go to, it was the Detroit Red Wings,” Schneider said.

Maxim Kuznetsov only played 19 games in a Kings sweater, scoring only one assist, before signing with Dynamo Moscow.

Jeff Tambellini played 4 games for the Kings, with no points. Two years later, on March 8, 2006, Tambellini was traded with defenceman Denis Grebeshkov to the New York Islanders for Mark Parrish and Brent Sopel.

Sean Avery spent 4 years in L.A., scoring 99 points and racking up 667 penalty minutes in 218 games. On February 5, 2007, the Kings traded Avery and the rights to John Seymour for forward Jason Ward and two prospects, forwards Marc-André Cliche and Jan Marek.