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Los Angeles Kings Extend Mikey Anderson

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6:33 pm: CapFriendly has reported the full breakdown of the eight-year contract. He’ll receive $1.6MM in base salary and a $2MM signing bonus in 2023-24, and $4.2MM per year (all in base salary) for the remainder of the contract. There is no trade protection involved.

12:06 pm: The Los Angeles Kings, rumored to be involved in a trade for one defenseman, have signed a long-term extension with another. Mikey Anderson has inked an eight-year deal that will kick in next season, and keep him under contract through 2030-31. Moving forward, he will carry an average annual value of $4.125MM.

Kings general manager Rob Blake had this to say:

We’re excited to have a player of Mikey Anderson’s caliber signed to the Kings long-term. Mikey has not only developed into a trusted, shut-down player on the ice, but a well-respected individual in the room that we envision continuing to grow into our leadership core.

Anderson, 23, has quickly become one of the most reliable defensive defensemen in the league. Despite his relatively small frame, he plays a physical, risk-free brand of hockey and is almost always found latched onto the other team’s best, frustrating them at every turn.

Selected in the fourth round in 2017, he not only became a star at the University of Minnesota-Duluth, but his leadership skills quickly shone through, making him the captain of the U.S. World Junior team that won silver in 2019. He would win a national championship a few months later, his second in as many years, and then transition to professional hockey.

It only took him half a minor league season before showing he was ready for the NHL, and he’s never looked back. Anderson has 33 points in 172 regular season games, and now averages close to 22 minutes a night for the Kings.

Defense-first defensemen rarely get huge paydays, but this is a significant commitment from Los Angeles nonetheless. Anderson’s current contract was just a one-year, $1MM deal that he signed in September as a bridge, but he’ll never have to negotiate as a restricted free agent again.

With the suspected cap increase, this could quickly turn into quite the bargain for the Kings. Anderson already sits as the 74th-highest cap hit among defenders for next season, a number that will continue to go down as more players sign new deals.

Even if more offense never comes, Anderson’s strong defensive play should make this a reasonable bet for the Kings to make.

Injury Notes: Pageau, Tinordi, Faber

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The New York Islanders are without one of their best depth pieces tonight against the Ottawa Senators. Jean-Gabriel Pageau is out for tonight’s game against his former team with an upper-body injury and is day-to-day, per the team.

Pageau sustained the injury at practice yesterday, says Stefen Rosner of NYI Hockey Now. Reportedly, Pageau was “clipped” during a drill and was slow to get up, yet stayed on the ice for the remainder of practice. The 30-year-old center has 10 goals and 29 points in 56 games this season. This is his first absence of the 2022-23 campaign.

  • Chicago Blackhawks defenseman Jarred Tinordi is out for the remainder of tonight’s game against the Montreal Canadiens with an undisclosed injury, the team said. The Chicago Sun-Times’ Ben Pope notes that Tinordi had fallen awkwardly on a shift in the first period. Tinordi, 30, was claimed on waivers by the Blackhawks at the beginning of the season and has suited up in 26 games, recording five points.
  • One of the best prospects in hockey on one of the best teams in college hockey is out long-term. The Athletic’s Michael Russo agreed with reports today that Minnesota Wild defense prospect and University of Minnesota captain Brock Faber is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in the Kevin Fiala trade, Faber has 20 points in 30 games with Minnesota this year after representing the United States at the Olympics and World Junior Championships last season.

Los Angeles Kings Reassign Tobie Bisson

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Feb 14: Bisson has been returned to the AHL without dressing for a game.

Feb 13: Of all the defensemen that the Los Angeles Kings could recall, it is something of a surprise that Tobie Bisson will be joining them ahead of tonight’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Bisson, 26, only earned his first NHL contract last summer and has never been recalled to the league. Through 41 games this season for the Ontario Reign, the undrafted defenseman has 12 points and 31 penalty minutes.

It’s not that Bisson is undeserving; he plays hard minutes for the Reign and recently played for Team Canada at the Spengler Cup. But the team has been recalling several other defensemen all season long, and sent down Jacob Moverare just yesterday.

Perhaps it is as simple as rewarding a player for his AHL work this season. Bisson is excellent in his own end and willing to engage physically when challenged. But with so much smoke swirling around the Kings and a potential Jakob Chychrun deal, an unexpected recall like this will raise some eyebrows.

Either way, it means NHL pay and a great moment for Bisson, who worked his way up from the AHL after going undrafted. After nearly five full minor league seasons, he finally gets a chance to go up to the biggest stage.

Brandt Clarke Could Be Part Of Potential Jakob Chychrun Trade

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Last night, the Coyotes made waves when they revealed that defenseman Jakob Chychrun was being sat for trade-related reasons.  No immediate word came through about the likely destination for the 24-year-old but Sportsnet 590’s Nick Kypreos reports (Twitter link) that the Kings are now viewed as the team that’s likely to land the blueliner which would certainly give their back end a significant boost as they continue to jockey for position in the very tight Pacific Division.

Los Angeles Kings Loan Jacob Moverare To AHL

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The Los Angeles Kings have announced that defenseman Jacob Moverare has been loaned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. The move puts Moverare back on the team that he’s spent most of this season with, same for a two-game stretch he played for the Kings in November.

The 24-year-old was recalled yesterday as part of a series of roster moves the Kings made. He didn’t end up skating in the team’s victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins last night, but was brought to the NHL roster nonetheless to serve as a seventh defenseman. He returns to the AHL to resume his role as a top-four defenseman for the Reign, perhaps returning to his partnership with 2020 35th overall pick Helge Grans, a fellow Swede.

This re-assignment gives the Kings a free roster spot for GM Rob Blake to work with. Los Angeles is one of the teams front-and-center in the Jakob Chychrun trade rumors, and the Coyotes did make Chychrun a healthy scratch yesterday for what the team termed “trade-related” reasons.

While it’s far more likely that this move is simply the Kings moving an AHL contributor back to the league he’s meant to play at, one wonders if the Kings are clearing space for a potential addition to their blueline. It is worth noting, though, that yesterday’s reports on Chychrun did state that no Chychrun trade was “imminent,” so any connection to be made between this roster move and a Chychrun deal is largely speculation.

Los Angeles Kings Make Multiple Roster Moves

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The Los Angeles Kings are getting a pair of forwards back from the injured list. The team announced today that Arthur Kaliyev and Trevor Moore were activated from injured reserve, and defenseman Jacob Moverare has been recalled from the AHL’s Ontario Reign.

It’s been more than a month out of the lineup for Moore, who signed a five-year contract extension in December. Placed on injured reserve in early January with an upper-body injury, he actually last played before Christmas. All told, it’s been a 16-game absence for the 27-year-old.

The late bloomer has had another successful offensive campaign in SoCal, recording seven goals and 19 assists in 37 games. One of the Kings’ most important secondary scorers, they’ll be ecstatic to have Moore back in the fold as they try to hang in the Western Conference playoff race.

Kaliyev exited the lineup just days before Moore with an undisclosed injury. The 21-year-old forward has been extremely productive in limited ice time, recording nine goals in 19 points in 34 games despite largely sitting in a bottom-six role. The 33rd overall selection in 2019, Kaliyev has incredible scoring potential and could fight for more minutes as the season progresses.

Moverare comes up from the minors to give the Kings an extra defenseman on the roster. The 24-year-old Swede has been shuttled up and down multiple times this season but has played just two games with the Kings. In 35 games with the Reign, he has two goals, 10 assists, and 12 points.

Latest On Kings, Jakob Chychrun

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One of the top players on the market for this trade deadline season is Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun. His trade saga has been in headlines for quite some time now, and a deal could finally be materializing for the former top prospect. We covered how the league-leading Boston Bruins were rumored to have interest in Chychrun, and now another team with interest has been revealed. David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period cites “multiple well-placed sources” who say that “the Kings and Arizona Coyotes have taken things up a notch or two and have been in consistent dialogue over a potential trade.”

The Kings could use a left-handed blueliner like Chychrun, and have the sort of prospects and draft picks to interest the Coyotes. While 2020 second-overall pick Quinton Byfield is probably too much of an ask, the Kings do have the seventh-ranked prospect system according to The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler. (subscription link) The Coyotes have reportedly set a high asking price for Chychrun, but whether it’s 2019 fifth-overall pick Alex Turcotte, Harvard star Alex Laferriere, or others the Kings have the capital to meet it.

Los Angeles Kings Extend Pheonix Copley

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The Los Angeles Kings have signed goaltender Pheonix Copley to a one-year, $1.5MM contract extension.

The deal comes in the wake of Copley’s impressive 2022-23 season. Copley has gone 15-3-1 in 20 games played, seizing the Kings’ starting job from franchise legend Jonathan Quick. It’s been a whirlwind campaign for Copley, who signed with the Kings over the summer undoubtedly with the idea in mind that he’d be the Kings’ number-three netminder, spending the bulk of the year with their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

That didn’t happen, though, as the immense struggles of $5MM AAV netminder Cal Petersen this year (.868 save percentage in 10 games) necessitated that Copley be brought to the NHL roster to back up Quick, in order to allow Petersen to rebuild his game as the AHL starter.

While Petersen has performed quite well at the AHL level (.918 save percentage in 19 games) the Kings have kept Copley in the NHL, as he simply keeps on winning. Copley went on a seven-game winning streak from December to January, and, after taking a loss against the juggernaut Boston Bruins, won his next three games as well.

Copley’s numbers outside of his record aren’t great (.897 save percentage) but he’s put the Kings in a position to win and has given them just enough in net in order to come away with two points on most nights. While it’s not the largest sample size, it’s easy to see why the Kings have made the choice to give him a $1.5MM deal for next season.

What isn’t easy to see, though, is where Copley factors into the Kings’ future. Quick is 37 and certainly struggled this season, and also is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year. In September, Quick stated that he planned on continuing his career beyond this season. While it’s possible that his lackluster performance this season has changed his outlook, it seems more likely that the ultra-competitive Quick will want to continue his career so he can end it on more productive footing.

But with Copley now on an NHL deal for next season, could Quick be forced to head elsewhere if he doesn’t want to retire? It’s always seemed as though Quick would have a place on the Kings for as long as he would want one, but perhaps the Kings’ dire situation in net this year has changed that.

What’s also possible is that the Kings may choose to buyout Petersen. Despite Petersen’s strong AHL performance, the Kings could opt to buy out Petersen in July. While the move wouldn’t save them any cap space for 2023-24, it would save them nearly $5MM the year after, at the cost of a $1.6MM cap hit for the following two years.

Trade Rumors: Kane, Chychrun, Oilers/Kings

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Teams around the league could soon get more clarity on the future of Chicago Blackhawks superstar Patrick Kane. On today’s edition of TSN’s Insider Trading, Pierre LeBrun relayed a quote from Kane’s agent, Pat Brisson, that a decision on whether he’ll waive his no-movement clause is coming “relatively soon.”

As LeBrun says, Kane completely controls his destiny, even if he waives his no-move clause, and he’ll be able to dictate the teams to which he’s willing to accept a trade. If Kane opts for a trade, Brisson says those teams will be notified at least “seven to 10 days” ahead of the March 3 deadline. There does exist a timeline in which Kane rejects a trade and opts to stay put, reconsidering his future in Chicago this summer. Despite just having nine goals in 45 games this season, Kane would still carry a great deal of value at the deadline, although it may not result in a first-round pick at this point.

  • The Boston Bruins could get even scarier. LeBrun also reported on Insider Trading that the team has recently inquired about Jakob Chychrun, which could give them easily the most formidable defense in the league. Even if the Bruins opt to part with Brandon Carlo in any potential Chychrun deal, as his name has begun to enter trade speculation, it would still leave Boston with a top-four defense group of Chychrun, Charlie McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, and Matt Grzelcyk. With Chychrun locked into a dirt-cheap, sub-$5MM cap hit for multiple seasons, it could pay dividends for years to come if the Bruins can manage to stay competitive.
  • LeBrun also mentioned that the Edmonton Oilers and Los Angeles Kings seem to be competing for the same trade deadline additions, mainly left-shot defensemen. The two Pacific Division rivals have both been linked to Chychrun, Joel Edmundson, and Vladislav Gavrikov. A potential bidding war for those trade targets would certainly make fans of the Coyotes, Canadiens, and Blue Jackets smile, as the playoff rivals from last season aim to upgrade their group of defensemen.

Latest On Kings’ Goaltending Situation

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When you look at the teams near the top of each division, most of them have at least one thing in common. Their goaltending is playing at a high level and usually locked in for years to come.

For the Los Angeles Kings, tied for the Pacific Division lead, neither part is really true, despite recent results. Pheonix Copley, who they have relied on recently, is 15-3-1 on the year but (incredibly) holds a save percentage of .897. Some will argue he makes the important saves, but the clock also might be close to striking midnight on that Cinderella story.

Their other goaltenders – Jonathan Quick and Calvin Petersen – have been even worse. Petersen is in the minor leagues after clearing waivers but is the only goalie in the entire organization that is signed past this season. So some might wonder if the Kings will be on the lookout for an upgrade in net at the deadline.

According to Pierre LeBrun on TSN’s recent Insider Trading, the goaltending search may end up stretching into the summer. The Kings are not interested in deadline rentals like Antti Raanta or Cam Talbot, and are instead looking for a long-term answer.

Where that answer comes from is unclear, especially when Petersen is already soaking up $5MM per season playing in the AHL. Nearly $4MM of that cap hit remains on the books through 2024-25 even if he stays in the minor leagues, making any big free agent goaltending addition a little bit more challenging.

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