The Los Angeles Kings have brought in a familiar face to serve as the team’s third-string netminder. After losing him on the waiver wire a few weeks ago, the Kings announced they’ve traded for netminder Pheonix Copley from the Tampa Bay Lightning for future considerations.
Further, despite recalling him on an emergency basis only a few hours ago, the Kings also shared that they’ve loaned Erik Portillo back to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. Assuming he can make it to Los Angeles before tomorrow night, Copley is expected to serve as the Kings’ backup tomorrow night against the Pittsburgh Penguins behind Anton Forsberg.
The reasoning behind the trade is simple. The team’s Editorial Content Manager, Zach Dooley, reported earlier that Darcy Kuemper and Anže Kopitar are dealing with lower-body injuries. While Kopitar has been deemed ’questionable’, Kuemper has already been ruled out for tomorrow night’s contest.
Copley’s status as a veteran and familiarity with the organization likely played a big part in the Kings reacquiring him from the Lightning. Over the last three years, starting as a backup and transitioning to a third-string role, Copley had managed a 28-7-5 record for Los Angeles with a .897 SV% and 2.75 GAA. While playing for AHL Ontario last season, the 33-year-old netminder appeared in 42 contests, earning a 24-17-1 record with a .904 SV% and 2.49 GAA.
Although he was rostered on the Lightning to start the year, he had yet to appear in a game for them. Andrei Vasilevskiy has gotten off to a disappointing start to the campaign, but the team relied on Jonas Johansson as the next man up instead.
You lose a player on waivers, then trade back for him and because he hasn’t cleared waivers, you risk losing him again… what a master class by Kenny Holland LOL
Strange scenario lol. Tampa claims Copley off waivers from LA. He hasn’t been used in the regular season so far and then decide to trade him back to LA for “future considerations” which I assume will be a draft pick of some sorts (4th round maybe?).
Future considerations is basically goodwill. It isn’t a pick or tangible asset. BriseBois did Holland a solid, and Holland promises to do one for BriseBois, one day.
@yeasties – that’s 100% wrong, my man. According to The Sporting News & a variety of other sources, it turns out, that future considerations are exactly what they sound like. When a team agrees to send another club future considerations, it means that at another point in time, they will complete the deal by sending either a player, a pick or multiple of either. In the NHL, teams cannot trade a player or draft picks for cash alone, so a player or pick has to go back the other way. Oftentimes, a team wants to wait and figure out what position they need, or if they want to get a draft pick in a later round.
Epic Tampa player management.
Claim a player and trade him a little later for assets.