Kings’ Kevin Fiala Sustains Multiple Left Leg Fractures, Out For The Season
Sunday: The Los Angeles Kings updated today that Fiala underwent successful surgery due to fractures in his lower left leg. As expected, he will miss the remainder of the season, and will be reevaluated in the spring.
Saturday: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that Fiala is having surgery today. There still is no word on the precise nature of the injury but Friedman adds that it is indeed season-ending, a significant blow for both Switzerland and the Kings. Fiala will now be eligible to be placed on LTIR but with Los Angeles having ample cap space, it’s unlikely they’ll need to put him there.
Friday: One of the main reasons NHL teams opposed player participation in the Olympics was the concern over injuries that could be avoided. That fear has come to fruition for the Los Angeles Kings. Toward the end of today’s game between Canada and Switzerland, Kevin Fiala had to be stretchered off the ice due to an apparent leg or knee injury.
As mentioned, the injury happened with approximately three minutes left in the game. Fiala absorbed a hit from Tom Wilson and was in immediate pain on the ice. Although the hit was leveled, the incident causing the injury seemed accidental, and more like a freak play. According to Mark Lazerus of The Athletic, after the game, Wilson said, “It’s the Olympic Games and I feel terrible that he may not be able to keep playing. Just sending his family and him my best. You never want to see a guy go down, in a tournament like this, especially.”
Still, accident or not, it doesn’t make the situation any easier for the Kings. Fiala is the team’s second-highest scorer with 18 goals and 40 points in 56 games while averaging over 19 minutes of ice time per game.
Considering how starved Los Angeles is for offense, it’s a worst-case scenario. The team recently acquired high-scoring Artemi Panarin before the Olympic break, but that didn’t relieve all of the team’s goal-scoring woes. No, the Kings haven’t yet played with Panarin on the ice, but losing a player with Fiala’s goal-scoring capabilities will objectively make it more difficult for them to put the puck in the net.
There haven’t been many updates regarding Fiala’s immediate status. Arpon Basu of The Athletic reported that Fiala has been taken to a local hospital, and there are concerns that the injury could be season-ending. If that’s the case, the Kings’ uphill climb toward playoff contention just became remarkably more difficult.
Rasmus Andersson Discusses His Trade
The long trade saga for Rasmus Andersson finally came to an end last month when the Flames moved him to Vegas in exchange for a first-round pick, a second-round selection, defenseman Zach Whitecloud, and prospect blueliner Abram Wiebe.
Of course, while this was the time that the trade got over the finish line, it looked like deals were all but done on multiple occasions beforehand. Speaking with Sportsnet’s Eric Francis earlier this week, the blueliner discussed some of those failed moves that ultimately preceded his departure from Calgary.
Over the summer, it was widely reported that the framework of a trade was in place to send him to Los Angeles. Andersson confirmed as much but acknowledged that he wasn’t ready to sign a long-term deal with the Kings which was a condition of the swap. As a result, it ultimately fell through.
Soon after that, word emerged that Andersson had given the Flames a shortlist of teams he would sign with. It turns out that the list wasn’t all that short as there were seven teams on it.
Andersson noted that a couple of times, it looked like something was in place with some of those other teams, without going into specifics about who they were. In the end, the acquiring team couldn’t figure out how to fit him in beyond this season (where he has a team-friendly $4.55MM AAV) which ultimately scuttled the discussions.
To his credit, Andersson came back to the Flames for this season and didn’t let the constant discussion about his future faze him. Instead, he had a strong first half, notching 10 goals and 20 assists in 48 games before the swap while logging over 24 minutes a night of ice time, narrowly surpassing his career high in that regard.
Of course, there was one more failed move, that coming just days before the move to the Golden Knights. It briefly looked as if Andersson was on his way to Boston with a seven-year, $63MM extension in tow but the 29-year-old noted that the Bruins made some tweaks to the offer in terms of structure and trade protection that weren’t to his liking. Then, after three days without any communication, he ultimately decided to pull the plug on signing an early extension with anyone for the time being. With an extension being a prerequisite to make the Boston trade happen, that took them out of the equation as well.
In the end, that decision ultimately facilitated a move as Vegas stepped up with their offer mere hours after that announcement and the long-awaited swap going back the better part of a year was finally completed. Andersson has since played in eight games since the move, picking up a goal and three assists and now is with Sweden for the Olympics so his break will be a short one compared to most of the league.
Speculated as a preferred landing spot for Andersson in the summer, the Golden Knights were indeed one of the seven teams on his list dating back to the offseason so both sides should be confident that an extension can be worked out. The near-miss Boston contract should act as a reasonable barometer for what that agreement should ultimately cost. It may wind up taking a lot longer than originally anticipated and hoped but Andersson appears set to get one of the outcomes he wanted, a trade to and a contract with a team of his choosing. The first half is done, now we’ll see how long it takes for the second half to be completed.
Kings’ Surplus At Forward Could Make Warren Foegele Expendable
The Los Angeles Kings could stick around the trade market when the NHL returns from their three-week break for the Winter Olympics. General manager Ken Holland joined TNT Sports’ NHL Game Break to breakdown the team’s acquisition of star winger Artemi Panarin, and referenced the team’s wealth of forwards with their latest addition. Specifically, Holland pointed out forward Warren Foegele as a player who they’ll “work the phones” around after a strong year last season turned into healthy scratches this season.
Foegele had a career-year in his first season with the Kings. He appeared in all 82 games and reached 24 goals, 46 points, and a plus-36 – all new career-highs for the 28-year-old winger. That performance came after Foegele reached 20 goals and 41 points in all 82 games of the dmonton Oilers’ 2023-24 season. He appeared to have reached another level, but his hot hand has gone cold to start the season. Foegele remains a utility, two-way winger when he’s in the lineup but has only posted eight points and a minus-five in 43 games this season.
With another forward in the depth chart, Foegele could become an interesting trade chip. He has proven an ability to provide an impact through a change of teams and could be enough to swing Los Angeles a mid-round draft pick that they can package in a bigger market buy.
Kings Have Started Extension Talks With Brandt Clarke
Back in 2021, the Kings drafted defenseman Brandt Clarke eighth overall with the hopes that he could emerge as a key contributor on their back end. While there were some stops and starts early on in his career, he has now emerged as a legitimate top-four player.
Set to reach restricted free agency this summer for the first time, it appears that the team is hoping to get something done before it comes to that point. Speaking to reporters following the recent Artemi Panarin trade (video link), GM Ken Holland indicated that there have been plenty of discussions about a new deal for the 22-year-old with a goal of getting something in place before July 1st.
While having an agreement in place before free agency opens up removes the possibility of an offer sheet, it would also give Holland more certainty of what he does or doesn’t have to spend on the UFA side of things. Given that there’s a wide range of outcomes, having that extra knowledge would be useful.
For example, AFP Analytics has a pair of projections for him. A two-year bridge deal could check in around $5MM per season while a seven-year pact approaches the $8MM mark. Considering eight-year deals are still allowed until mid-September, a potential price tag could even go higher. That variance is more than enough to cover a UFA signing or two so knowing where Clarke’s next deal will check in ahead of free agency would certainly affect the rest of their planning.
Last season, Clarke’s first full NHL campaign was a successful one. He picked up five goals and 28 assists in 78 games with largely sheltered minutes as he logged a little over 16 minutes per game with plenty of offensive zone starts. Clarke then added a pair of goals in their opening-round loss to Edmonton with an even lower workload in terms of playing time.
This season, Clarke has emerged as a consistent second-pairing player. While his zone starts are still skewed toward the offensive end, his ice time is up past 19 minutes per game, putting him third among Los Angeles defenders. He has already passed last year’s goal total as he’s up to six and with 21 helpers, he’s on pace to surpass that as well; a 40-point showing isn’t out of the question which would certainly be a boost to his contract value.
While there is a trade freeze in place, there isn’t a transactions freeze. Roster moves can still be made and contracts can still be registered with the league and announced. With that in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Holland and Clarke’s camp resume discussions during the Olympic break to see if they can get a deal across the finish line.
Artemi Panarin Notes: Other Offers, Trade Timing, Contract
While there wasn’t much trade activity leading into the Olympic trade freeze, one of the biggest moves of the season was made when the Kings acquired winger Artemi Panarin from the Rangers in exchange for prospect winger Liam Greentree along with a 2026 conditional third-round pick that upgrades to a second-round selection if Los Angeles wins a round. Meanwhile, if they win two rounds, New York also collects a 2028 fourth-round selection. Panarin subsequently signed a two-year, $22MM extension shortly following the swap. With the dust now settled on the trade, here are some additional notes on the move.
- During his media availability following the swap (video link), Panarin stopped short of directly confirming that extension offers from the Rangers were low-ball proposals but did note that “I don’t know if I should say this but I feel like the contract offer (said), ‘We’re not sure if we want you or not.’” Over the offseason, it was reported that New York had approached Panarin’s camp with some proposals that would see him take a sizable pay cut to remain with the team with some willingness to get creative on the term. With those talks going nowhere, Panarin added that there wasn’t really any reengagement with the Rangers after that point on a new deal.
- While Panarin ultimately took the offer from Los Angeles, it was far from the biggest one on the table. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in his latest 32 Thoughts column that the Kraken made an offer of more than $14MM per season in an effort to try to convince Panarin to accept a trade to them. That would have nearly been double the highest amount that the team has given a player so far in their brief tenure with Vince Dunn being their current top-paid player at $7.35MM.
- From the standpoint of affordability, teams likely would have preferred the trade to come after the break when there would be less money remaining on his contract (even with the Rangers retaining 50% on his contract to facilitate the move as they did). However, Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic relays (subscription link) that Panarin made it clear that his deadline was the trade freeze so that he would have ample time to settle in with his new club. That might have taken an interested team or two off the table as a result. That said, Panarin ultimately decided that the only team he’d accept a move to was the Kings so those other possibilities probably wouldn’t have happened anyway.
- PuckPedia has the breakdown of Panarin’s new deal. It’s predominantly paid in the form of signing bonuses to the tune of $20MM over the two years ($11MM for next season, $9MM for 2027-28) while he receives a base salary of $1MM in each season. Additionally, Panarin has a full no-move clause in this contract, just as he does in his current one.
Kings Reassign Joe Hicketts
2/6: The Los Angeles Kings assigned Hicketts back to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. He is expected to suit up in Ontario’s Friday matchup against the Bakersfield Condors per Anthony Collazo of Mayor’s Manor.
2/3: The Kings announced they’ve recalled veteran defenseman Joe Hicketts from AHL Ontario on an emergency basis. L.A. returned center Kenny Connors to Ontario in the corresponding move.
Hicketts’ recall comes after Michael Anderson sustained an upper-body injury early in Sunday’s game against the Hurricanes, indicating they aren’t expecting him to be available tomorrow against the Kraken. However, since Jacob Moverare was already available as a healthy extra, there must be an undisclosed injury concern regarding another Kings defender. Hicketts is only eligible for an emergency recall if there’s a chance L.A. won’t have six healthy defenders for its home tilt against Seattle.
Hicketts, 29, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Red Wings way back in 2014. The 5’8″ lefty beat the odds to get into a handful of NHL games with Detroit between 2017 and 2020, but hasn’t appeared at the top level since. He’s instead become an AHL mainstay, appearing in 552 games in that league over the last 10 years. That’s 17th among active AHLers.
He has spent the last three seasons in Ontario after inking a two-way deal with the Kings in 2023, subsequently signing two more of them to stay in the organization. He was named captain last year and has remained a valuable puck-moving option, although his production is down in 2025-26. After racking up 20 points in just 30 games in 2023-24, the best point pace of his professional career, he’s declined to only a 3-11–14 scoring line in 41 appearances this season with a -9 rating. He’s still only three points back of Samuel Bolduc for the team lead in scoring among defensemen, a testament to how much Ontario’s blue line has struggled to generate offense.
Hicketts won’t be on the NHL roster any longer than he absolutely needs to be as a result, but it’s still a nice story for the British Columbia native to land perhaps his first big league appearance in over six years this week. He only suited up twice for the Wings in the 2019-20 campaign, both times in November.
Connors, 22, sees his first NHL recall end without a game played to show for it. He was recalled on Jan. 26 in the wake of an injury to Alex Turcotte, who has since landed on injured reserve to make way for captain Anže Kopitar‘s return to the lineup. With 13 healthy forwards rostered aside from Connors, there was little chance of him seeing action, especially after sitting as a healthy scratch for four straight games. The 2022 fourth-rounder now returns to Ontario, where he had nine goals and 24 points in 41 games to begin his first professional season.
Latest On Andrei Kuzmenko, Kings Defense
Los Angeles Kings forward Andrei Kuzmenko left yesterday’s game with an upper-body injury, the team announced last night. Kuzmenko left the bench with an injury and attempted to return in the second period, but was unable to get back into the game. The Kings have not issued any further update on Kuzmenko’s status, but the fact that the Olympic break has now begun does give Kuzmenko some runway to recover before games start up again.
Kuzmenko, 30, has had an up-and-down tenure in Los Angeles. He was an instant success after he was traded there last season, scoring five goals and 17 points in 22 games. He added six points in the Kings’ first round playoff series against the Edmonton Oilers. He has just 23 points in 51 games this season, but he’s far from the only Kings forward who has seen his offensive production take a step back year-over-year. It will be interesting to see how Kuzmenko’s usage does or does not change after the addition of Artemi Panarin.
- After yesterday’s game, Kings head coach Jim Hiller told the media, including team reporter Zach Dooley, that the Kings’ defense is “pretty banged up” and that several blueliners are “quite a ways south of 100 percent.” Dooley noted that this is a new development, as previously only veteran Joel Edmundson had been understood to be dealing with an injury. With the Kings in the thick of the Western Conference playoff race, it’s clear the Olympic break is coming at a useful time for the Kings.
Kings Acquire, Extend Artemi Panarin
3:13 p.m.: Both teams have made the terms as reported below official. The Kings do not have an open roster spot and will need to make a corresponding move to add Panarin. Considering he’s already the owner of a U.S. work visa, a non-roster list stint for him isn’t likely.
2:03 p.m.: The Kings have acquired star winger Artemi Panarin from the Rangers, ESPN’s Adam Schefter and Emily Kaplan report. The Blueshirts are getting top prospect Liam Greentree and a conditional third-round pick in return. Panarin, a pending free agent, has now agreed to a two-year, $22MM extension in L.A., per Kaplan. The Rangers are also retaining 50% of Panarin’s current $11.64MM cap hit to bring it down to $5.82MM for the Kings, per Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic.
The conditions on that draft pick are complex, as Vince Z. Mercogliano of The Athletic reports. At the very least, the Rangers will receive the better of the two third-rounders the Kings own in 2026 (their own and the Stars’). If L.A. wins one playoff round this year, though, the selection upgrades to their 2026 second-rounder. If they win at least two rounds, their 2028 fourth-rounder also gets added in the deal.
L.A. was one of many teams that were still viewed as landing spots for Panarin – with an extension – as late as this morning. While they were never considered a true front-runner, they got the deal done. In the end, they ended up being the only destination for which Panarin would waive his no-movement clause, per Mollie Walker of the New York Post. Being one of the few teams that were willing to part ways with their No. 1 prospect was also surely an attractive option for Rangers general manager Chris Drury, making him feel comfortable pulling the trigger on an L.A.-or-nothing scenario well ahead of the deadline but before the Olympic roster freeze.
While the 34-year-old Panarin had a slow start to the year, he’s been his usual self from November onward, clicking well over a point per game. He got up to 19 goals and 38 assists for 57 points in 52 games before the Rangers scratched him following their Jan. 26 win over the Bruins, holding him out of the lineup to prevent an injury from complicating any trade. That still has him tied for 24th in the league in scoring and makes him L.A.’s leading scorer by a significant margin over Adrian Kempe and his 45 points.
Trading Panarin, one of the most dynamic talents in franchise history and one of the most successful big-ticket free agent signings in recent memory, became a reality last month when the Rangers announced their intent to undergo another multi-year retool. Reports quickly indicated that they informed Panarin he wouldn’t be offered an extension as part of that plan. They started their sell-off by dealing Carson Soucy to the Islanders last week, but they get after it in a big way here.
The Kings have teetered on the edge of the Western Conference playoff picture for much of the season. They currently sit one point back of the Kraken for the final wild-card spot with a game in hand. That record has been boosted by a league-high 14 overtime/shootout losses, too. They’ve only won 14 games in regulation, ironically tied with the Rangers for the second-lowest in the league.
That sluggish record can be almost entirely attributed to an inept offense, as the Kings score 2.57 goals per game, fifth-worst in the NHL. That simply hasn’t been enough to earn consistent wins in front of one of the league’s better overall defensive systems and goaltending situations. By giving up their universally lauded No. 1 prospect in Greentree, they’re making a clear bet that Panarin – 20th in the league at 1.10 points per game – will be the needle-mover that gets their offense out of the basement and propels them to their fifth consecutive playoff berth.
In a season that marks the last gasp for franchise icon Anže Kopitar, still chugging along as the Kings’ first-line center, he could spend his final few months in the NHL with the most purely talented linemate of his career (save for a Marián Gáborík, depending on how you rate him). Their lack of depth scoring has forced head coach Jim Hiller to deploy his top weapons all on different units. Kempe has anchored the second line as of late with the ageless Corey Perry and newly-minted center Alex Laferriere, while the high-ceiling but inconsistent trio of Kevin Fiala, Quinton Byfield, and Andrei Kuzmenko currently makes up their third line.
If the Kings waited until the deadline to make the move, they could’ve taken Panarin on at full price. But as of today, they’d only accumulated $8.4MM in cap space, per PuckPedia. That meant significant retention was necessary to get a deal done if L.A. wasn’t sending back a roster player. While Panarin, even at under $6MM against the cap, takes up a good chunk of that space, they still have a fair amount of flexibility to make another pickup on the other side of the Olympic break if they choose.
Los Angeles gives up the brightest forward prospect they’ve had in quite some time to make it happen. Greentree, 20, was the 26th overall pick in the 2024 draft and was ranked as the #47 prospect in the entire league by The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler last summer. He’s yet to play a pro game but has shown up as an outright star in junior hockey. He’s served as the captain for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires since his draft year and finished third in the league in scoring last season, churning out 49 goals and 119 points in 64 games.
It’s worth noting there’s been a significant drop-off in production in 2025-26. He was good for 1.86 points per game last year, but that figure has now dropped to 1.32. That’s still indicative of Greentree being a surefire top-nine piece, especially after a 90-point draft year, but expecting him to ever reach Panarin’s 100-point heights as an NHLer should be overzealous.
That said, the Rangers have had a checkered history with prospect development when the picks come from inside the house. Getting a blue-chip name from outside the organization is an extremely meaningful boost to their long-term outlook, and they’ve now ensured they’ll have six picks in the first three rounds of this year’s draft.
For the Kings, there’s also the matter of getting a true star forward signed to what comes across as an extremely reasonable extension. Not only is Panarin agreeing to a small pay cut in a rising cap environment, but he’ll only lock the Kings into their commitment through the 2027-28 season. That’s a rare insurance policy for L.A. if Panarin’s production declines with age sooner than they hope – especially as other teams were willing to offer Panarin a four-year deal in the range of $11.75MM per season, Frank Seravalli of Victory+ reports.
Image courtesy of Brad Penner-Imagn Images.
Kings Remain Interested In Panarin Extension
In his update, Pagnotta suggested that the Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, Los Angeles Kings, and San Jose Sharks remain interested in acquiring Panarin with an extension. In contrast, the Colorado Avalanche, Dallas Stars, and Edmonton Oilers view him only as a rental. Additionally, Pagnotta mentioned that unless something changes relatively soon, the Anaheim Ducks, Detroit Red Wings, Utah Mammoth, and Washington Capitals are no longer in the running.
Kings Interested In Artemi Panarin With Extension
Jan. 31st: On Saturday Headlines, Friedman expanded on his reporting from 32 Thoughts. According to the Sportsnet insider, the Hurricanes, Red Wings, Panthers, Kings, Sharks, and Capitals are interested in acquiring Panarin with an extension, with varying degrees of interest. Additionally, Friedman shared that the Ducks, Avalanche, and Stars are attempting to convince Panarin’s camp to join their respective clubs without an extension in place, treating him solely as a rental for a postseason run.
While cap space is a barrier for many, building a proper trade package has proven to be an issue for the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings have leaned into stocking their cupboard of draft picks with recent moves and hold 10 picks in the 2026 NHL Draft as a result. But those pieces won’t be enough to build value next to a shallow Kings prospect pool. Meanwhile, player interest appears to be the issue for the Seattle Kraken, who are hoping to move Shane Wright for a top-six star per Friedman.