The Los Angeles Kings recently lost Ilya Kovalchuk for at least a month, and have now seen another one of their forwards experience a setback in his injury recovery. Trevor Lewis, who has been out of the lineup since November 16th, underwent surgery this morning on his broken foot and will be out another four to five weeks. Lewis suffered the injury during a morning skate when he was hit with a puck, and originally was listed as week-to-week.
Though he doesn’t have the same offensive skill set that Kovalchuk brings, Lewis has still been a handy player for the Kings through the years. A skilled forechecker, the 31-year old has contributed double-digit goal totals the last two seasons and has shown enough versatility to move up and down the lineup, lining up with a checking group and next to Jeff Carter at times. Unfortunately, that offense has dried up like so many other players on the Kings, with Lewis registering just two goals and three points through his first 17 games.
While he tries to recover, the Kings will use the available ice time to see what they have in newcomers Brendan Leipsic and Nikita Scherbak. Both young players were claimed off waivers recently, and bring the potential—but certainly not promise—of more offensive success given their speed and skill. Los Angeles will take on the Arizona Coyotes tonight with a chance to climb out of last place in the Western Conference and tie their season-high with a two-game win streak. Those are certainly not lofty achievements, but the team has to start somewhere if they’re to turn this season around.
It will be interesting to see what the team does with Lewis upon his return, given that he still has another season remaining on his current contract. A $2MM cap hit is not unreasonably expensive, but given his lack of production there may be good reason to cut bait entirely next offseason.
Just ride out the season for a # 1 pick. Too many heavy contracts. Too many old players. Need to start from ground zero.