Kings Activate Trevor Moore From Injured Reserve
The Kings announced they’ve activated forward Trevor Moore from injured reserve. They had two open roster spots, so no corresponding move is required.
Moore returns to the lineup Saturday against the Blues after missing nearly a month. He was initially removed from the lineup due to an illness, but then sustained an upper-body injury that resulted in him being placed on IR on Jan. 8.
Tonight thus marks Moore’s first appearance of the calendar year. It hasn’t been a season to remember so far for the 30-year-old.
After being a consistent 40-to-50-point presence through much of his time in L.A., Moore is shooting at just 7.5% in 2025-26 with only 1.81 shots on goal and 3.65 shot attempts per game, some of his lowest numbers since emerging as a true top-nine threat at the beginning of the decade. He has just five goals and 13 points in 37 appearances, a far cry from the career-best 31 goals and 57 points he had just two years ago.
The Kings, who score the third-fewest goals in the league at 2.57 per game, simply need more from him and others in the stretch run to ensure their postseason streak doesn’t end at four seasons. With a 20-16-13 record through 49 games for 53 points and a .541 points percentage, L.A. currently sits ninth in the Western Conference and out of the playoff picture. Their strong possession numbers likely give them a leg up on their chief competitors, the Sharks and Kraken, though.
Darcy Kuemper Leaves Game Early
- Los Angeles Kings starting netminder Darcy Kuemper left the team’s victory over the New York Rangers last night early after appearing shaken up by a collision with Rangers forward Jonny Brodzinski. The Kings announced his exit was due to an upper-body injury. It’s worth noting that Kuemper missed some time earlier this month with an upper-body injury. Kuemper has been solid for Los Angeles this season, though not quite as brilliant as 2024-25. He has a .904 save percentage in 32 games played.
Latest On Drew Doughty
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Anthony Cirelli sustained an undisclosed injury in tonight’s win over San Jose, and after the game, Head Coach Jon Cooper had no further updates, as reported by Eduardo A. Encina of The Tampa Bay Times. Cooper went on to say “we’ll see tomorrow”, but avoided more details.
Despite just one shift in the entire third period, Cirelli still recorded 13:22 of ice time, indicative of the extent of which the team has had to lean on him during Brayden Point’s absence. Impressively, the wins keep coming for the Bolts, thin not only down the middle but also on the blueline. They’ve vaulted themselves into second place in the league after tremendous play, including a franchise best-tying 11-game winning streak recently.
Tampa Bay is back at it on Friday in Chicago, and Cirelli’s status until then will be closely watched. The 28-year-old has 30 points in 44 games this season, and with a center group which is missing their #1 in Point, the Lightning have had to rely on Dominic James as a 2C, a 23-year-old in his first professional season. Already down Victor Hedman and Ryan McDonagh along with Point, losing Cirelli for any considerable time would be another major hurdle.
Elsewhere across the league:
- Ahead of their game against the Rangers, the Los Angeles Kings announced that Drew Doughty would not play due to illness. The stalwart had appeared in 41 of the team’s 48 games prior to tonight, and will need just two more to hit the 1,250 mark, all with his original club. With the game faster than ever, naturally it has not come so easy for Doughty, who turned 36 in December. The veteran continues to play heavy minutes, as his 22:51 average is good for most on the team, but he has just 13 points in 41 games, production not seen since his rookie campaign in 2008-09. Doughty was activated from injured reserve in early December from a leg/foot injury, and is still working to find his stride. He will look to return by Saturday against the Blues, but as for tonight, depth lefty Jacob Moverare has slotted in on the third pairing.
- Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Elvis Merzlikins left tonight’s game after the first period due to illness, per the team, and did not return. The 31-year-old had allowed two goals on seven shots, leaving Jet Greaves to take over in a 2-1 game. The Jackets ended up losing 4-1 to Ottawa. Now in his seventh year with Columbus, Merzlikins has lost the crease to Greaves full time this season, as he continues to struggle to find consistency. The Latvia native has an .882 save percentage along with a 3.81 goals-against-average so far on the year, with an 8-8-1 record. Unfortunately, such numbers are more of the same over his last few seasons. Merzlikins will look to be healthy again by Thursday, as the group hosts Dallas.
Los Angeles Kings Reassign Andre Lee
According to a team announcement, the Los Angeles Kings have reassigned forward Andre Lee to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. The transaction reduces the Kings’ active roster to 21, with only 12 forwards, indicating that another roster move is coming.
Lee, 25, was originally recalled on January 7th. The 6’4″, 190lbs winger appeared in all seven of the Kings’ games since, scoring one goal and one assist while averaging 10:17 of ice time in a bottom-six role.
It’s a similar fashion to how Los Angeles utilized him last year, too. Lee made his NHL debut during the 2024-25 campaign, finishing the season with one goal and three points in 19 games, averaging 9:10 of ice time. He delivered solid physicality, averaging nearly two hits per game.
Despite being a depth forward in the Kings’ depth chart, Lee has carved out a decent career for himself after being a seventh-round pick in the 2019 NHL Draft. After completing his collegiate career at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, Lee has primarily played for AHL Ontario since then.
He’s understandably provided much more offense with the Reign. Throughout the last five years, Lee has scored 35 goals and 71 points in 185 games, becoming a decent secondary scorer for the club. He has helped Ontario reach the Calder Cup playoffs on three occasions, scoring four goals in 12 postseason contests.
Los Angeles Kings Make Multiple Roster Moves
The Los Angeles Kings will have a different look against the Edmonton Oilers tonight. According to a team announcement, the Kings have returned forward Corey Perry from the non-roster list, placed Anže Kopitar on the injured reserve, and have reassigned Cole Guttman to the AHL’s Ontario Reign.
Perry, 40, missed two games for the Kings while on the non-roster list. The team didn’t fare well without him, losing in overtime to the San Jose Sharks and in regulation to the struggling Winnipeg Jets. Regardless, he’ll provide Los Angeles with more offense at the very least, scoring nine goals and 21 points in 35 games while averaging 13:33 of ice time per game.
Not only has Perry been one of the better scorers on the team in his age-40 season, but he’s been one of the most responsible. Regarding Kings’ forwards that have played in 25 or more games this season, Perry is fifth on the team in CorsiFor% with a 53.9% mark.
Meanwhile, Kopitar lands on the IR, having missed the same number of games as Perry over the last little while. The Kings’ captain has been dealing with a lower-body injury and won’t be eligible to return until Wednesday against the Vegas Golden Knights due to the IR requirements for activation. He’s scored six goals and 21 points in 37 games throughout the duration of his final season in the NHL.
Lastly, Guttman will return to AHL Ontario after not appearing in a game for Los Angeles. The former bottom-six forward for the Chicago Blackhawks is in his first year with the Kings organization after signing a two-year, $1.55MM contract last summer. He’s been a solid player in the AHL this year, scoring nine goals and 23 points in 31 games, good for fifth on the team in scoring.
Kings Recall Cole Guttman, Place Trevor Moore On IR
The Kings announced they’ve recalled forward Cole Guttman from AHL Ontario on an emergency basis. Winger Trevor Moore was moved to injured reserve, retroactive to Dec. 29, in the corresponding move.
If Guttman plays, it would be his first NHL action in nearly two years. A sixth-round pick by the Lightning in 2017, he opted not to sign with them and instead inked an entry-level deal with the Blackhawks after captaining the University of Denver to a national championship in 2022.
Initially, it looked like the 5’9″ pivot would be able to carve out an NHL role. He spent most of his first year in the minors but impressed with 30 points in 39 games as a rookie. He also didn’t look out of place in his time on Chicago’s roster, scoring four goals and six points through his first 14 NHL games.
Guttman has remained a high-end AHL producer in the years since, but a lack of physicality and inconsistent two-way play have kept him from seeing much NHL time. He did get into another 27 games with the Blackhawks in 2023-24, but after recording eight points and a garish -17 rating, he was sent back to the minors, where he remained through last season until becoming a Group VI unrestricted free agent.
The Kings pounced and signed him to a two-year, two-way deal this offseason. His AHL resume was impressive enough to warrant a rather high $475K guarantee – after all, he’d managed 127 points in 148 games with Rockford over the years.
The California native has largely kept up the pace after returning home. The 26-year-old ranks fourth on the Ontario Reign in scoring with 23 points (nine goals, 14 assists) in 31 games.
He joins a Kings forward group that was forced to dress only 11 forwards in yesterday’s overtime loss to the Sharks. Moore, Joel Armia, and Anže Kopitar were all unavailable and are listed as day-to-day entering tomorrow’s matchup with the Jets. Moore has been out the longest, sitting out four games with an illness and an upper-body injury, so he was the logical IR candidate. He can be activated at any time since he’s already missed more than seven days.
Pre-injury, Moore was having a tough year. He’s been money in the bank for at least a 40-point pace since being acquired from the Maple Leafs in 2020, but has just five goals and 13 points in 37 showings in 2025-26. That’s a points per game pace of 0.35, his worst in a full season in Los Angeles.
Kings Recall Andre Lee, Taylor Ward
The Kings added forwards Andre Lee and Taylor Ward to the roster on recall from AHL Ontario, per a team announcement. Winger Corey Perry was placed on the non-roster list in a corresponding move as he deals with the illness of a family member, according to Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period.
Lee’s and Ward’s presence comes after Anže Kopitar and Joel Armia both left the Kings’ Monday game against the Wild with lower-body and upper-body injuries, respectively. They’re both day-to-day and won’t play tonight, per Bernstein, but the fact they haven’t been placed on injured reserve is a good sign for their availability on Friday against the Jets.
Lee, 25, comes up for the first time this season after getting a taste of NHL hockey last year. A seventh-round pick back in 2019, the 6’4″ winger is enjoying an offensive breakout in Ontario. After never recording more than 20 points in a season, he’s already hit 27 in just 32 games and leads the team with 15 goals.
The UMass-Lowell alum suited up 19 times for L.A. last season, recording a goal and three points with a -5 rating. He wasn’t used on special teams and was bound to fourth-line minutes at 5-on-5, averaging 9:10 per game. Despite that, he finished fourth on the team with 1.89 hits per game and averaged nearly a shot per night. However, despite receiving the most sheltered offensive zone usage of any Kings forward, his 51.2% share of shot attempts ranked near the bottom among L.A. skaters.
The Kings are hoping Lee’s possession game has improved as he steps back into the lineup tonight against the Sharks. He’ll also get a taste of shorthanded action as he’s expected to factor in on the team’s second penalty kill unit, per John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor.
Ward will also be entering the lineup for just his second NHL appearance. The 27-year-old debuted in the final game of the regular season last year, scoring the Kings’ lone goal in a 5-1 loss to the Flames. A 6’2″ winger, he’s also enjoying the best offensive season of his pro career with 12 goals and 21 points in 32 games for Ontario.
The son of one-time King Dixon Ward, he’s in his fourth professional season after signing with L.A. as a free agent out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2022. While in school, he averaged 0.88 points per game for the Mavericks.
Kopitar And Armia Day-To-Day
- Kings center Anze Kopitar (lower body) and winger Joel Armia (upper body) are listed as day-to-day, per Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider (Twitter link). The injuries were sustained in Monday’s game against Minnesota. Kopitar has 21 points in 37 games in his final season while Armia has 16 points in 41 outings in his first season with them after coming over from Montreal in free agency. If one of them can’t play on Wednesday against San Jose, they do have an open roster spot available.
Jack Johnson Announces Retirement
Johnson’s professional career began in 2005 when he was selected with the third overall pick of the 2005 NHL Draft by the Carolina Hurricanes, behind Sidney Crosby and Bobby Ryan. Just over a year after being drafted, the Hurricanes traded Johnson and Oleg Tverdovsky to the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for Tim Gleason and Éric Bélanger.
Before joining the Kings at the end of the 2006-07 season, Johnson played two years at the University of Michigan in the NCAA, where he scored 26 goals and amassed 71 points in 74 games.
Los Angeles quickly rewarded Johnson for his breakout, signing the young blue liner to a seven-year, $30.5MM extension in early January of 2010. Unfortunately, his tenure with the Kings wouldn’t last much longer.
Looking to add a top-six center, the Kings traded Johnson, along with a 2013 first-round pick, to the Columbus Blue Jackets for Jeff Carter. Carter played a crucial role in the Kings’ first Stanley Cup championship later that year, while Johnson experienced the best years of his career with Columbus.
Bob Pulford Passes Away
Hall-of-Fame player and executive Bob Pulford has passed away, the NHL Alumni Association said. He was 89 years old.
An Ontario native, Pulford is one of the most integral figures in franchise history for his hometown team. He spent his playing days as a center and left winger after breaking into the league with the Maple Leafs in 1956-57, eventually becoming a five-time All-Star and one of the top penalty-killing forwards of the late Original Six era.
More than 55 years after Pulford played his last game for the Leafs, he still ranks quite high on the franchise leaderboard. He’s seventh in games played (947), 11th in goals (251), and 11th in points (563). He led Toronto with 10 assists in 12 playoff games in the Leafs’ last Stanley Cup victory in 1967, the fourth and final title of his career after winning three straight with the Leafs from 1962-64.
Pulford was traded to the Kings in 1970 and spent the final two seasons of his career in Los Angeles. While his offensive production wasn’t at its peak, he captained the Kings in his final season as a player in 1971-72 before beginning his arguably more impactful off-ice career as their head coach the following season.
As the sixth head coach for the Kings in their first six seasons, Pulford oversaw the team’s first sustained period of relevance. He posted a 178-150-68 record (.535) over five regular seasons, winning Coach of the Year honors in 1975 and beginning a streak of nine consecutive playoff appearances that still stands as a franchise record.
In 1977, the Blackhawks tabbed Pulford to serve as both their head coach and GM. That hiring would kick off a 30-year run for Pulford in Chicago – during which time he was inducted into the Hall of Fame as a player as part of the class of 1991 – that saw the franchise make the playoffs 22 times.
His roles were varied. Pulford had four separate stints as the Hawks’ head coach (1977-79, 1981-82, 1984-87, 1999-00), often taking over as the interim boss midseason when someone was fired. Those often overlapped with four stints as GM (1977-90, 1992-97, 1999-00, 2003-05). When he wasn’t either of those things, he served as the club’s senior VP of hockey operations until he transitioned to working for the Hawks’ parent company in 2007, no longer directly affiliated with the team.
Pulford was also the first head of the NHLPA, elected to the role in 1967 and holding it until Ken Dryden took over presidential duties in 1972.
All of us at PHR send our condolences to the Pulford family and the many in the hockey community who worked with him.