Yesterday, the Capitals traded for a pure fighter in D.J. King. (The Caps gave up Stefan Della Rovere in exchange for King; sorry, kid, guess we jinxed you.) Here’s the basics: in 101 games since 2006, King has posted four NHL goals and 185 penalty minutes. He has held off the heavyweights of the Western Conference, most notably carnival-giant Derek Boogard, who signed with the Rangers this summer from Minnesota. Although Boogard has gotten the best of King a few times, King has defended himself admirably against the 6’8″ freak, and generally stayed out of harm’s way.

King had spent his entire NHL career with for the St. Louis Blues, who have four other good fighters and don’t need him this year. Despite the trade, Stl Today concedes that “King is a true heavyweight, capable of breaking faces[.]” It’s not just against the Boogard and the Rangers that King will get great chances to fight, though.

In the hype leading up to the Capitals’ participation in this year’s Winter Classic, Alex Ovechkin has endured uninspired namecalling from some anonymous Penguins scrub. King has already gone on the record as stating “that’s not going to be happening too much longer.”

While he doesn’t dominate the league’s toughest like Donald Brashear used to, King is tough enough to keep the Capitals’ stars from having to focus on anything but hockey, and he’s certainly got style. If the Caps’ in-game soundtrack starts featuring some Lil Wayne, bonus.