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Kings Sign, Waive Aaron Dell

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3/5: The Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that Dell has successfully cleared waivers, meaning that Los Angeles can assign the goaltender to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

3/4: The Kings placed veteran goaltender Aaron Dell on waivers Monday, per Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. He was not signed to an NHL contract, so the news means the Kings have signed him to what’s likely a one-year, two-way contract to ride out the season. Friedman later confirmed it was a two-way deal.

Dell, 34, attended training camp with the Blue Jackets on a professional tryout contract but was not signed. After sitting unsigned for the first few months of the season, Dell signed another unsuccessful PTO with the Hurricanes, during which he represented Canada at the Spengler Cup with a .906 SV% and 2.59 GAA in four games.

Finally, Dell found somewhere to get professional playing time in January, signing a tryout with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, the Kings’ primary affiliate. He’s logged five appearances there over the past few weeks, posting a .906 SV% and 2.63 GAA with a 2-3-0 record. He logged his first shutout of the season on Friday, making 24 stops in a 3-0 win over the San Diego Gulls.

With Pheonix Copley done for the season after injuring his ACL in December, Dell sits fourth on the Kings’ goaltending depth chart behind Cam Talbot, David Rittich, and top prospect Erik Portillo. The Kings acquired the signing rights to the former University of Michigan standout in a trade with the Sabres last March, and he’s responded with a sparkling .923 SV%, 2.38 GAA, two shutouts, and a 16-8-3 record in 28 games for the Reign.

Dell provides L.A. with a more veteran option in case of an injury to either Rittich or Talbot if they so choose. An undrafted free agent signing by the Sharks out of the ECHL in 2015, Dell has worked his way up the ranks to make 106 starts and 24 relief appearances over a seven-year career with San Jose, the Devils, and the Sabres. He has a 50-50-13 record with five shutouts, a 2.92 GAA, and .905 SV%.

Adrian Kempe Expected To Return During Regular Season

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The Kings have avoided the worst with right-winger Adrian Kempe, who’s expected to return from his upper-body injury sometime later this month, TSN’s Darren Dreger reports. The 27-year-old is listed as week-to-week with the injury he sustained late in Monday’s game against the Oilers.

If Kempe were expected to miss the remainder of the regular season, the Kings could have placed his $5.5MM cap hit on long-term injured reserve and used that space before the March 8 trade deadline to acquire players. Per Dreger, that won’t be the case.

Kempe can still go on LTIR if he’s expected to miss at least 10 games and 24 days, retroactive to Feb. 26, to provide temporary relief. However, as they’ll need cap space to activate him before the end of the regular season, they won’t be able to dip into his relief for additional acquisitions.

Right-winger Viktor Arvidsson is already on LTIR with a lower-body injury, although he, too, is expected back before the end of the regular season. Seeing as the Kings will need space to have his $4.25MM cap hit count against the books, they’ll have nearly $0 in space to work with at the trade deadline. As such, any upgrade they make to their roster must be a money-in, money-out move.

Kempe has already missed two games with the injury, which he sustained late in the third period in an awkward collision with Oilers defenseman Cody Ceci as Los Angeles was trying to erase a 4-2 deficit with an empty net. Kempe skated to the bench while play was active, appearing to favor his left arm (video link).

The Kings have largely recovered from a disastrous stretch between Christmas and the All-Star break in which they went 4-8-6 with a -11 goal differential. After a 5-1 road win over the Pacific Division-leading Canucks last night, the Kings remain first in the Western Conference Wild Card race with a 30-19-10 record and 70 points.

They have a seven-point cushion on the ninth-place Flames, although they are in danger of falling to the second wild-card spot. The Predators are now tied with Los Angeles with 70 points, although they trail in the points-percentage tiebreaker as they’ve played two more games.

After signing a four-year, $22MM extension in the 2022 offseason, Kempe has provided spectacular value for the Kings. While he’s not on pace to sniff the career-high 41 goals he scored last season, he does have 51 points in 57 games, a career-best 0.89 per-game rate. He’s also averaging 18:47 per game, eclipsing last year’s career-high mark by two seconds.

However, he’s struggling in the possession department after being a net-positive player for the last two seasons. While his 54.5 Corsi-for percentage at even strength is substantial at first glance, it’s 1.2% worse than the team’s overall Corsi share without him on the ice.

His expected rating is also negative, with a -0.8 mark. He posted a combined +13.9 expected rating over the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.

Regardless, he’s still a core piece for a mediocre Kings offense that relies on depth, not star power, to be effective. In Kempe’s absence, top-prospect-turned-breakout-star Quinton Byfield has returned to a top-line role flanking Anže Kopitar, while 2019 top-five pick Alex Turcotte is also seeing reps alongside the Kings’ captain.

The Kings only have 12 healthy forwards on the active roster and have recently scratched winger Arthur Kaliyev in favor of dressing seven defensemen, allowing both of their best up-and-coming right-shot defensemen, Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence, to get playing time. Given their current LTIR situation, they have enough cap space to make a corresponding recall in Kempe’s absence, although they would need to place him on IR or LTIR to open a roster spot.

Kings Reportedly Interested In Tyler Toffoli

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After spending the first eight seasons of his career in Los Angeles, Devils winger Tyler Toffoli could return to Southern California. The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that the Kings have “expressed interest” in Toffoli if he’s made available by New Jersey GM Tom Fitzgerald in the days leading up to the deadline.

A pending UFA, Toffoli carries a cap hit of $4.25MM, and while extension discussions are ongoing, no deal has been reached. The Devils are still in a playoff chase, sitting five points behind the Lightning for the final playoff spot in the East with two games in hand.

That’s a perfectly bridgable gap, so even if the 31-year-old isn’t extended by March 8, they may keep him around if they feel the postseason is in reach or are confident in reaching an extension before the summer. Toffoli’s production isn’t replaceable internally – he holds the team lead in goals with 25 and has 42 points in 58 games, fourth on the team. While he’s technically listed as the Devils’ third-line left wing with Erik Haula and Dawson Mercer, he’s averaged 17:27 per game this year, fourth-most among Devils forwards.

It makes sense the Kings would have an interest in reuniting. He was a solid middle-six threat throughout most of his time in L.A., but he’s only entered his prime after a 2020 trade to the Canucks and subsequent stops in Montreal and Calgary. Last season’s career-high 34 goals with the Flames helped cement him as a true top-six and even first-line threat, posting above-average possession metrics. Add in his bargain cap hit, and he’s a logical fit to help the Kings shoulder apparent semi-long-term injuries to wingers Viktor Arvidsson and Adrian Kempe down the stretch.

Los Angeles would only be able to take Toffoli if the Devils retained half his salary, making him a $2.125MM player upon acquisition. That could change if evaluation this week reveals Kempe is expected to miss the rest of the regular season, allowing the Kings to move his $5.5MM cap hit to LTIR and add Toffoli’s entire salary for the stretch run.

Critics may point to Toffoli’s -11 rating this season, but advanced numbers assign much more blame to New Jersey’s poor goaltending than Toffoli’s defensive impacts. His 56.5 CF% at even strength is fifth on the team, he has a decent +4.9 expected rating, and his most common line with Jesper Bratt and Jack Hughes has controlled a remarkable 60.3% of expected goals, per MoneyPuck.

When talks of an extension in New Jersey began after his trade from Calgary last summer, it was clear Toffoli would prioritize trade protection and term. That’s because he’s played for five teams over the previous five seasons despite his strong play at each stop. He has no trade protection in his current four-year, $17MM deal signed with Montreal in 2020, and although the Kings won’t be able to afford to extend him, L.A. at least presents a familiar destination for Toffoli to ride out the 2023-24 campaign before testing the free agent waters for potentially the last time.

Adrian Kempe To Undergo MRI

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  • TSN’s Darren Dreger is reporting that Los Angeles Kings forward Adrian Kempe is returning to California to receive an MRI. Although the Kings have not performed as well as initially expected this season, the team still sits in the first wild-card spot in the Western Conference. With Kempe being the team’s leading scorer at this point in the year, and the recent injury to forward Viktor Arvidsson, Los Angeles may be an active team at the deadline in acquiring a top-six forward.

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Kings’ Mikey Anderson Out Week To Week

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Kings defenseman Mikey Anderson will be out with an upper-body injury on a week-to-week basis, interim head coach Jim Hiller said Saturday (via Eric Stephens of The Athletic). Hiller also confirmed that winger Viktor Arvidsson, who landed on LTIR earlier Saturday with a lower-body injury, carries the same designation, confirming an earlier report from Kevin Weekes of ESPN.

Anderson, 24, sustained the injury in the third period of Thursday’s 4-1 loss to Nashville. He skated to the bench hunched over after being harassed for puck possession by Predators winger Luke Evangelista.

It’s a major loss for the Kings, who are now without half their top defense pairing on a semi-long-term basis. Anderson and Drew Doughty have played 878 minutes together this season, the second-most of any pairing in the league, with a respectable 52.1 expected goals percentage, per MoneyPuck. Only the Blues’ Nick Leddy and Colton Parayko have been paired together more frequently.

A fourth-round pick of the Kings in 2017, Anderson has surpassed all the benchmarks expected of him as a shutdown prospect. He’s averaged over 20 minutes per game in each of his four full NHL seasons and has one goal, 14 assists, 15 points, and a +14 rating in 55 games this year.

Individually, however, Anderson is having his worst two-way season since cementing himself in L.A.’s top four. While still adept at limiting quality against at even strength, he’s become more of an offensive damper this season and has an expected -1.9 rating as a result. His -3.1 relative Corsi-for percentage at even strength is also the worst of his career.

That said, his minutes are difficult to replace. Vladislav Gavrikov, who’s put up better possession metrics than Anderson during his first full season in Los Angeles while anchoring their second pairing with Matt Roy, will likely slide up alongside Doughty. 23-year-old Jordan Spence was recalled from AHL Ontario in a corresponding transaction with Arvidsson’s LTIR placement and will draw into the lineup tonight against Anaheim.

Kings Place Viktor Arvidsson On LTIR, Recall Jordan Spence

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It was less than two weeks ago that the Kings got Viktor Arvidsson back from his back injury.  However, after already returning to injured reserve recently, the team has gone a step further, announcing that they’ve transferred him to LTIR for the second time this season.  Meanwhile, the Kings also recalled defenseman Jordan Spence from AHL Ontario.

Arvidsson missed the first four months of the season before returning to the lineup on February 15th.  The 30-year-old picked up two assists in his first three games but then suffered a lower-body injury on his first shift on Tuesday versus Columbus.  The good news is that this injury won’t carry as long of a recovery time as the first one did as he is expected to be back before the end of the regular season.  Assuming that the placement was back-dated to the time of injury (their release didn’t specify the effective date), Arvidsson could be eligible to return as soon as March 15th against Chicago.

As for Spence, his recall was needed due to Michael Anderson suffering an upper-body injury on Thursday versus Nashville.  The exact timeline for his recovery isn’t known but he has been ruled out for tonight’s game against Anaheim already.  That would have put the Kings down to five defenders and they had nowhere near enough cap space to bring Spence up, resulting in them needing to transfer Arvidsson to LTIR to create the short-term cap room.

It’s the fourth recall of the season for Spence, who has spent the majority of the campaign in the NHL.  The 22-year-old has played in 44 games so far with Los Angeles, collecting 16 points (all assists) while averaging just shy of 15 minutes a night on the third pairing.  Spence has made just one AHL appearance with the Reign which was one Wednesday; he was held out of Ontario’s lineup on Friday with his recall pending.

Kings Activate Blake Lizotte, Place Viktor Arvidsson On IR

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Top Los Angeles Kings winger Viktor Arvidsson has reportedly been placed on injured reserve, per the NHL media site. The Kings have also activated forward Blake Lizotte off of long-term injured reserve. Lizotte has been out since January 15th, missing the team’s last 14 games. He has nine points in the 34 games he’s been healthy for this season.

Arvidsson is falling out of the lineup after just four games back from a back injury that delayed his season debut until February 15th. He’s dealing with an undisclosed injury suffered in L.A.’s Thursday night win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. ESPN broadcaster Kevin Weekes shared that this new injury could hold Arvidsson out on a week-to-week basis, though that hasn’t been confirmed by new head coach Jim Hiller yet.

Arvidsson recorded two assists, two penalties, and a +1 in his four games back, though he’ll still be searching for his first goal of the season. At the rate that his injuries are coming in, this season could end up as the first time since the 2015-16 season that Arvidsson hasn’t scored at least 10 goals in a season. The Kings will certainly hope that isn’t the case, with Arvidsson ranked third in goals on the Kings between 2020 and 2023.

Lizotte is slated to fill Arvidsson’s role on the team’s third line, playing alongside Quinton Byfield and Pierre-Luc Dubois. He was placed on IR alongside Carl Grundstrom, who is currently ineligible to return until March 9th. Los Angeles will be forced to juggle their depth forwards until then, with Lizotte, Arthur Kaliyev, and Jaret Anderson-Dolan likely rotating between roles in the team’s bottom six.

Kings Assign Jordan Spence To AHL

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The Kings assigned defenseman Jordan Spence to the AHL’s Ontario Reign on Wednesday, per the league’s transactions log.

Spence, 22, has been a healthy scratch in six out of Los Angeles’ last 10 games. While he’s been effective in a limited role, he’s been surpassed on the depth chart by 2021 eighth-overall pick Brandt Clarke among right-shot defenders.

The 5-foot-10 Australian-born blue-liner has 16 assists in 44 games this year and has remained on the NHL roster since Nov. 11. Selected 95th overall in 2019, Spence is a Canadian and Japanese national and suited up for Canada at the 2019 U18 World Juniors and the 2021 U20 World Juniors.

He’s been one of the best offensive defenders in the AHL since turning pro in 2021, posting 87 points across 102 games with the Reign. His NHL possession numbers have been strong, too, with a career Corsi for percentage at even strength of 57.9 and an expected 8.0 rating across his 74 games dating back to 2021.

That said, Clarke is the higher-ceiling prospect and has generated more offense in his limited role than Spence. It’s a poor numbers game for the latter, who’s not able to push out established top-four defenders Drew Doughty and Matt Roy on the right side.

Given his strong minor-league offensive production, promising possession numbers, age, and right-shot status, Spence should have high value should the Kings leverage him in a trade before deadline day. He’s in the final season of his entry-level contract, which carries an $820K cap hit, and will be an RFA without arbitration rights this summer.

Los Angeles Kings Activate Viktor Arvidsson, Place Two On LTIR

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The Los Angeles Kings have officially activated winger Viktor Arvidsson off of long-term injured reserve. Arvidsson has yet to play this season, sitting out with a back injury. He will make his season debut against the New Jersey Devils on Thursday. The Kings have also placed both Carl Grundstrom and Blake Lizotte on long-term injured reserve with lower-body injuries. LTIR rules will require Grundstrom to miss the team’s next 10 games, making him eligible to return on March 9th, while Lizotte has already missed the required time and can be activated whenever he’s healthy.

Getting Arvidsson back could mark a turning point in L.A.’s season. The 30-year-old forward scored 26 goals and 59 points in 77 games last season, his second-straight season of 20 or more goals. It was the first time he’s flirted with 60 points since the 2016-17 and 2017-18 seasons when he scored 61 points in back-to-back years. He also boasts a career-high of 34 goals, managed in just 58 games in 2018-19. His return to the lineup gives Los Angeles a lot more flexibility with their winger combinations, and will likely give third-line centerman Pierre-Luc Dubois an upgraded linemate.

Arvidsson’s return also helps L.A. fill the absences left by Lizotte and Grundstrom, who have currently been replaced by Alex Turcotte and Jaret Anderson-Dolan. Turcotte has appeared in four games this season, with his only scoring coming through the first goal and assist of his career, scored in the same game. Anderson-Dolan is also struggling to find his production, with just four points in 22 games.

Trade Deadline Primer: Los Angeles Kings

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With the All-Star break in the rearview, the trade deadline looms large and is now just a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Los Angeles Kings.

The Los Angeles Kings are maintaining their form this season, once again looking like a team that could find their way into the postseason but not one that poses much of a threat. They currently sit atop a tightly-packed Western Conference Wild Card race, with five teams sitting within five points of the Kings. They’ve played the second-fewest games in the conference – 50 – but also boast the eighth-fewest goals in the Conference. The Kings will be hoping that the Trade Deadline can work hand-in-hand with new head coach Jim Hiller – who took over for Todd McLellan in early February – to bring a needed spark to the lineup in the second half of the season.

Record

24-16-10, 4th in the Pacific Division.

Deadline Status

Conservative Buyers

Deadline Cap Space

$2.0 MM on deadline day, 1/3 retention slots used, 43/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2024: LAK 1st, LAK 4th, LAK 6th, LAK 7th
2025: LAK 1st, LAK 2nd, LAK 3rd, LAK 4th, LAK 5th, LAK 6th, LAK 7th

Trade Chips

Los Angeles is approaching the deadline with very little cap to work with and very few picks in the 2024 NHL Draft. Those factors make any trade a challenge for the Kings. But they might be able to leverage the value of former draft capital, with Alex Turcotte and Arthur Kaliyev looking like two of their best bargaining chips. Neither player has found their groove in the NHL since being drafted by the Kings. Kaliyev has spent the last two seasons in and out of the Kings lineup, playing just 38 games and scoring just 14 points this season. Still, he’s been with the NHL lineup for three seasons, scoring 70 points in 175 games over the last four seasons. That’s more of a role than Turcotte has received – with the former fifth-overall pick spending most of the last four seasons in the AHL. He’s played in four NHL games this season and finally recorded his first goal and assist in the league. He also has 23 points in 30 AHL games this season.

While neither 22-year-old has a strong pro resume as it stands, there’s a chance teams could remain hopeful that a change of scenery could bring back their draft day hope. But even if they do, Los Angeles will likely still need to move cap to make any deal work. They may manage that by trading depth forwards like Carl Grundstrom or Blake Lizotte. Grundstrom has continued to operate on the team’s bottom line, playing 50 games and scoring 12 points this season, while Lizotte has played 34 games as a bottom-six centerman. They each carry cap hits below $2.0MM and could bring value to a team looking towards a long playoff run – Lizotte adding center depth and Grundstrom bringing good grit. But it may be hopeful to think that either player will be enough to swing a deal without L.A. also including draft capital.

Team Needs

1) Complementary Depth – The headline of the Kings season has been the struggles of new acquisition Pierre-Luc Dubois. The team traded for the 25-year-old this off-season, sending Gabriel Vilardi, Alex Iafallo, Rasmus Kupari, and a 2024 second-round draft pick back to the Winnipeg Jets. Dubois has since recorded just 21 points in 50 games with the Kings, falling to the team’s third-line center role. He’ll likely receive a productive winger with Viktor Arvidsson returning to the lineup, but the team shouldn’t pass up a chance to get him additional help at the Trade Deadline. Dubois has scored 60 or more points in three of his seven NHL seasons, including each of the last two, and could benefit from skilled wingers that can support his drive into the offensive zone. Los Angeles could seek out options like Anthony Duclair or Morgan Frost, who both carry cheaper cap hits, or they could shoot for a more veteran presence through the likes of Vladimir Tarasenko or Jason Zucker, who would each require additional cap space. But without many trade pieces to work with, it’s unlikely that L.A. could compete for top-of-the-market options like Jake Guentzel.

2) Future Capital – Los Angeles could certainly be a team in the market for a goaltender, or extended defensive depth, but they’ll likely fall flat of offers other teams can make. Instead, their Deadline plan should be to hear out as many offers on young defensemen or top minor-league forwards, looking to bank whatever future capital they could get. The Kings are likely still years away from the top of the standings, something made okay by the fact that they have the fifth-youngest lineup in the league. Dealing away veteran lineup pieces like Andreas Englund could have the benefit of opening space for young prospects like Brandt Clarke, netting the Kings modest compensation while also giving some of their recent top draft picks a chance to shine. That may be all Los Angeles can ask for, as they approach a deadline where they’ll be cap-strapped and looking for a spark.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

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