Kings Sign Angus Booth To Entry-Level Contract
Kings defenseman prospect Angus Booth signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the team on Friday, per a team release. The deal carries an average annual value of $852.5K.
Los Angeles selected Booth in the fourth round of the 2022 draft with the 116th overall pick. The 19-year-old Montréaler is in his fourth season of junior play with the QMJHL’s Shawinigan Cataractes.
The 6-foot, 176-pound left-shot defender grades out as a third-pairing threat who’s adept in transition. Unfortunately, his point production has stagnated since his draft year. He churned out 22 assists and one goal in 42 games with the Cataractes in 2021-22 but followed that up with 19 total points in 62 games the following season with a -7 rating.
His play this season has returned to the level he displayed during his draft year, but he hasn’t gotten much further in either his offensive or defensive stats. That’s why it’s a tad surprising to see the Kings extend an entry-level contract to Booth with six months remaining before he would re-enter the draft if not signed.
Since Booth will play less than ten NHL games this season, the beginning of his deal will slide to the 2024-25 campaign. He will be a restricted free agent upon the expiration of his ELC in 2027.
West Notes: Gavrikov, Chrona, Girard
The Los Angeles Kings have announced that defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov has been activated off of injured reserve. In addition, defenseman Jacob Moverare has been recalled from the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. Gavrikov has not played since December 10th, and had been dealing with a lower-body injury.
Gavrikov has played a top-four role in Los Angeles, averaging just under 20 minutes of ice time per night with a regular penalty-killing role. He’s provided the Kings with decent value on the $5.875MM investment they made in him, and if he keeps it up he’ll be in a strong position to hit free agency at the end of 2024-25. Moverare, 25, has skated in 16 games at the AHL level so far this season and five in the NHL.
Some other notes from the Western Conference:
- The San Jose Sharks have recalled netminder Magnus Chrona from their AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda. The move was made to give the Sharks an additional goaltender to cover for the fact that regular tandem netminder MacKenzie Blackwood is not feeling well. In a corresponding move, defenseman Jacob MacDonald was placed on injured reserve, which clears the roster spot to be used on Chrona. Chrona, a former NCAA National Champion at the University of Denver, has a .900 save percentage in 11 games in what has been his rookie pro campaign.
- Avalanche head coach Jared Bednar told the media today (including Guerilla Sports’ Jesse Montano) that defenseman Samuel Girard will not play tonight, but also “hinted” that there is a chance he plays Friday against the St. Louis Blues. Girard returned to skating on December 21st, and is working his way back to game readiness after entering the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program.
Jacob Moverare Assigned To AHL Ontario
- The Kings loaned Jacob Moverare back to AHL Ontario after playing just shy of 15 minutes last night versus Calgary. The 25-year-old has been recalled and sent back down ten separate times each since mid-November.
Los Angeles Kings Recall Jacob Moverare
- According to the AHL transactions log, the Los Angeles Kings have recalled defenseman Jacob Moverare from their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. It will mark the 10th time already this season that Moverare has been recalled by the Kings, scoring zero points in four games at the NHL this year.
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What Your Team Is Thankful For: Los Angeles Kings
As the holiday season approaches, PHR will be taking a look at what teams are thankful for in 2023-24. There also might be a few things your team would like down the road. We’ll examine what’s gone well in the early going and what could improve as the season rolls on for the Los Angeles Kings.
Who are the Kings thankful for?
Playing on his sixth different team in as many seasons, the journeyman netminder signed on with Los Angeles as an unrestricted free agent on a one-year, $1MM contract. Believing at the time that Talbot would likely serve as a 1A or a 1B to fellow netminder, Pheonix Copley, Talbot has completely taken over the net for the Kings.
In 20 games played, Talbot holds a 13-5-2 record, as well as a .926 SV% and a 2.02 GAA. Furthermore, 12 of his 19 starts have been registered as Quality Starts according to HockeyReference, meaning he is beating the league average in save percentage in over 60% of his starts.
Last year, with an assortment of goaltenders including Copley, Jonathan Quick, Calvin Petersen, and Joonas Korpisalo, Los Angeles goaltenders were only able to achieve a collective save percentage of .892, before completely bottoming out in the 2022-23 Stanley Cup playoffs. Now with a steady presence between the pipes this season, Talbot has made a case for being the best-value contract signed this past summer.
What are the Kings thankful for?
Patience.
Although it feels more recent, the Kings are now a decade removed from their last Stanley Cup run and still retain two of their aging stars Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, as well as Quick as recent as last season. Going through some lean seasons since then, Los Angeles has done a great job stockpiling young talent, to go on another run with their franchise legends. 
In the 2020 NHL Draft, the Kings selected forward Quinton Byfield as the second overall selection in the draft, and although he made his NHL debut a year later, Los Angeles demonstrated tremendous patience with Byfield’s development. From 2020-2023, Byfield played in a total of 99 games for the Kings, scoring eight goals and 33 points over that stretch.
Now, and still only 21 years old, Byfield is nearly a point-per-game player, scoring eight goals and 23 points in 27 games, nearly doubling his career totals in about a third of the number of games. Aside from Byfield, Los Angeles is using a similar method with Arthur Kaliyev, Jordan Spence, and Brandt Clarke, hoping to make the most out of every one of their draft selections.
What would the Kings be even more thankful for?
For Father Time to stay away.
As previously mentioned, the Kings are beginning to reap the benefits of many solid draft choices, and demonstrating the patience required to build a winning team through the draft. However, even all these years later, the team still primarily beats to the drum of Kopitar and Doughty.
Even though both franchise icons are in their mid-to-late 30s, Kopitar continues to lead the team in scoring, and Doughty leads all defensemen in scoring within the organization. Unfortunately, for the most part throughout the league and sports in general, Father Time remains undefeated and will ultimately claim Kopitar and Doughty as its victims.
When these two future Hall of Famers decide to call it quits, given their draft and prospect capital accrued over the last several years, Los Angeles should be pretty well set up for the future of the organization. Nevertheless, they would undoubtedly benefit from having these two as long as possible.
What should be on the Kings holiday wish list?
A potential coaching change.
During the Todd McLellan era of Kings history over the last five seasons, Los Angeles has only made the playoffs, losing in the first round each time. This season, with the team currently fifth in goals for per game, and the best team in goals against per game, this Kings team is the most well set up to get the job done this spring.
Reasonably assuming that Los Angeles will eventually make the playoffs for the third time in a row this spring if they are unable to make it out of the first round, there should be serious questions raised about the future of McLellan within the organization.
In 15 seasons spent as a head coach in the National Hockey League before this year, McLellan has coached his team to the playoffs in nine of those seasons, making it as far as the Western Conference Finals twice with the San Jose Sharks back in 2010 and 2011. This season, if they are going to make it to the Stanley Cup, they will most likely have to go through the defending Champions, the Vegas Golden Knights.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Los Angeles Kings Send Down Moverare, Place Copley On LTIR
Without much clarification as to the nature of the injury, reports emerged two days ago that goaltender for the Los Angeles Kings, Pheonix Copley left the team’s practice and had to be helped off the ice. Today, the Kings announced that they have placed Copley on the long-term injured reserve, and also loaned defenseman Jacob Moverare to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.
Joining forward Viktor Arvidsson on the LTIR, the team will now have a touch over $2.5MM in current cap space, allowing them to comfortably carry David Rittich as the backup goaltender for the foreseeable future. After giving Los Angeles some much-needed stability in the net last season, the Kings rewarded Copley’s efforts with a one-year, $1.5MM extension for this year.
Largely serving as the team’s starting goaltender for much of last season, Copley had returned to the backup role this year, after being handily outplayed by free-agent acquisition, Cam Talbot. In eight starts this year, Copley carries a 4-1-2 record, coupled with a .870 SV% and a 3.16 GAA.
Comparatively, in somewhat of a night-and-day difference, Talbot leads the organization with 19 starts on the season, holding a 13-5-2 record, and impressively maintaining a .926 SV% and 2.02 GAA. With adequate depth in the crease throughout the entirety of the organization, the Kings should be able to weather the storm without Copley for the foreseeable future.
Also a part of the transaction this evening, Moverare is in his third season of being a depth defenseman for Los Angeles, typically finding himself in the AHL with Ontario. Last season being his most successful in the minor leagues, Moverare played in a total of 62 games for the Reign, scoring four goals and 26 points overall.
Although being used as a primary candidate for paper transactions coming out of the Kings organization this season, this will be Moverare’s eighth promotion and demotion of the year. Throughout his lengthy list of callups, Moverare has only suited up in two games for Los Angeles, failing to score a point after averaging 14 and a half minutes of ice time per night.
Kings Place Vladislav Gavrikov On Injured Reserve, Recall David Rittich
The Los Angeles Kings have officially placed defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov on injured reserve, and have recalled goaltender David Rittich on an emergency basis. Given that players must be on the injured reserve for a minimum of seven days after placement, the timeline of Gavrikov’s return will not change much, given that it was reported he would be week-to-week.
As one of the more frustrating defenders to line up against in the NHL, the Kings will be hard-pressed to find an internal option to replace Gavrikov in their lineup adequately. Since the team is unwilling to carry more than three right-handed shot defensemen, they will likely fill in the hole with Jacob Moverare and Tobias Bjornfot.
Being the second-highest-paid defenseman on the team, Gavrikov ranks fourth amongst Los Angeles defensemen in average time on ice, scoring three goals and nine points in 25 games. On the defensive side of the puck, Gavrikov is fourth on the team in blocked shots and continues to post above-average possession numbers from the blue line.
In the case of Rittich, it was reported earlier this afternoon that regular backup goaltender Pheonix Copley was helped off the ice toward the end of today’s practice (X Link). Currently, there has been no update as to the status of Copley, although it is likely he will not suit up in the team’s game tomorrow night against the Seattle Kraken.
Although Rittich has operated as a backup goaltender for much of his career, this will be his first callup with the Kings since signing a one-year, $875K contract this past summer. In 16 games played for Los Angeles’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, Rittich holds a 7-6-3 record with a .901 SV% and a 2.63 GAA.
Gene Carr Passes Away At 72
The Los Angeles Kings have shared that former top NHL prospect Gene Carr has passed away at the age of 72. Carr was drafted fourth overall in the 1971 NHL Draft and went on to appear in 465 career NHL games. He appeared with five different franchises throughout his eight-year career, including five seasons with the Kings and three years with the New York Rangers.
Carr was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in 1971, the same draft that saw Guy Lafleur and Marcel Dionne go first and second overall; also boasting Hall of Fame talent with 20th-overall choice Larry Robinson. Carr appeared in the 15th-most NHL games of the draft class, making his debut with the Blues in the 1971-72 season. He was traded to the Rangers after only 14 games and five points with the Blues, though, as part of a seven-player swap between the two teams. Carr finished his rookie season with 60 games and 16 points in New York and would appear in one more modest season with the Rangers before being traded to the Kings for a first-round draft pick.
The move to L.A. kicked off the strongest years of Carr’s career. He scored 17 points in his first 21 games with the franchise in 1974 and would go on to become iconic for his long, blonde hair and charming personality, making him a recognizable face of the early Kings franchise. But despite spending the heat of his career in Los Angeles, Carr’s career year came in 1977-78, when he appeared in five games and scored two goals with L.A. before being moved to the Pittsburgh Penguins, where he recorded 17 goals and 54 points in 70 games, bringing his total on the season to 19 goals and 56 points, both career-highs. It would be Carr’s only season in Pittsburgh and he would go on to retire at the age of 27 after one season with the Atlanta Flames.
Despite Gavrikov's Injury, Clarke Unlikely To Be Recalled
- With Vladislav Gavrikov now out for a little while, some wondered if this could be the opportunity for top prospect Brandt Clarke to be recalled from AHL Ontario. However, Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider notes that promoting him would give them four right-shot defenders and the Kings don’t want to put one of them in a spot of playing on their off-side. Clarke is off to a very strong start with the Reign, putting up 25 points in his first 24 career AHL appearances.
Jordan Spence Changes Agents
Kings defenseman Jordan Spence has changed agents and is now represented by Quartexx, PuckPedia reports (Twitter link). The 22-year-old is in his first full season at the NHL level, appearing in all but one of 26 games for Los Angeles so far. A prominent point producer in the minors with 87 points in 102 games with AHL Ontario, Spence has had a bit of a harder go hitting the scoreboard in the NHL although he does have nine assists while averaging just shy of 15 minutes a night. Spence is set to become a restricted free agent for the first time this summer and will be owed a qualifying offer worth a little over $813K.