Sep. 18: It’s a one-way deal worth $825K, John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor reports.
Sep. 17: The Kings and restricted free agent winger Arthur Kaliyev are in agreement “in principle” on a one-year deal close to his $874,125 qualifying offer, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reports Tuesday. It has no bearing on Kaliyev’s trade request which has been active since at least May, Pagnotta adds.
The deal puts Kaliyev in a similar situation to Maple Leafs winger Nicholas Robertson. The 23-year-old was also an RFA with an active trade request this summer but opted to sign a one-year, $875K deal last week, giving teams interested in acquiring him some cost certainty.
But unlike Robertson, Kaliyev is coming off a down year, not a breakout one. The American national was limited to seven goals and 15 points in 51 games after hitting double-digit goal totals in each of the previous two seasons.
Kaliyev does still have a bit of room to grow at age 23. The 2019 second-rounder doesn’t use his 6’2″, 209-lb frame to get involved physically and can have some visible defensive lapses, but his possession numbers at even strength haven’t been a cause for concern at any point of his career thus far, even when compared directly to his teammates.
The Uzbekistan native has averaged 15 goals and 31 points per 82 games through his career. That’s impressive production for a player who’s averaged just over 12 minutes per game and doesn’t have a terribly high career shooting percentage (8.4%). He’s a chance-generating machine who averages 2.23 shots per game – sixth-most among Kings forwards with at least 100 games played in an L.A. jersey over the past three years.
There’s legitimate reason to believe a move to a top-nine role elsewhere could generate a 20-goal, 40-point breakout for Kaliyev – or more. It’s been mostly quiet on the trade front up to this point, but with a contract in hand, he could very well find himself on the move during training camp.
To not have him a regular on at least the PP2 line is darn near criminal. Let this kid play some regular minutes and maybe he can produce.
This one year deal might end up being the Kings on the “prove it” side. As @dm867 wrote above, he needs a legit opportunity to play and be in a position to succeed. If still has the attitude problem many have written about, then he’s already got one foot out the door, but the coaches and management should at least try to get him back on board in a good frame of mind.
Not good to have a player who doesn’t want to be there. A bottom 6er like AT is not worth the potential problems it can bring. Time to move him even though they will be selling at his low point.
Finally. Put him on a line with Danault and Moore for at least 20+ games and see what he can do with regular line mates! 15 minutes a night with PP time!
the only uzbek player in the league needs to succeed, for central asian hockey as a whole
Good $$$ signing for a later trade… Not to far away..