Los Angeles Kings Make Several Roster Moves
Nov 30: After last night’s wild, 9-8 game, Fagemo has been loaned back to the AHL.
Nov 29: The Los Angeles Kings are always one of the busiest front offices in the league. They shuffle players up and down on a daily basis to save some extra cap, and reward young players with a few days of NHL salary. Today, the shuffle has a new name involved, as Jordan Spence has been recalled from the minor leagues. He’s coming along with Samuel Fagemo, while Lias Andersson has been loaned back to the AHL.
Spence, 21, has been in the minor leagues all season so far, once again dominating the AHL whenever he hits the ice. After scoring 42 points in 46 games last season, he’s off to an even better start with 16 in his first 17. That performance earned Spence 24 appearances with the big club last year, despite being barely out of junior hockey. The fourth-round pick scored twice and added eight points in those games, earning him a short look in the playoffs as well, when the Kings were shorthanded.
His recall today is interesting, if only because the team plays tonight and could insert him directly into the lineup. It’s not clear who would come out, but Alex Edler and Sean Walker both played limited minutes on Sunday as the team lost to the Ottawa Senators in overtime.
Andersson played 8:37 in that game – including just four shifts in the third period – his first appearance of the season at the NHL level. The 24-year-old continues to be a disappointment relative to his draft position (seventh overall in 2017) and can’t seem to lock down a regular spot.
Los Angeles Kings Re-Assign Frederic Allard
Nov 28: After coming up as an insurance policy, Allard has been returned to the Ontario Reign today without playing.
Nov 27: According to a team release Sunday, the Los Angeles Kings have recalled forward Lias Andersson and defenseman Brandt Clarke from the AHL’s Ontario Reign.
While Andersson has been continually shuffled up and down between the two leagues (he was sent down just yesterday), Clarke returns to the active roster after a two-week conditioning stint in the AHL. Due to the NHL-CHL eligibility agreement, the 19-year-old Clarke cannot be assigned to the minors full-time. However, the team had scratched him for five games in a row, making him eligible for a two-week, five-game conditioning stint in Ontario before returning to the NHL.
Clarke, the eighth overall pick in the 2021 NHL Draft, had a goal and an assist in five games with Ontario. He’s also played nine games in the NHL this season, meaning that one more game with the Kings will set his entry-level contract in motion. If not, his deal is eligible to slide until next season.
Despite spending a handful of days on the Kings’ roster, Andersson has yet to play an NHL game this season. The former New York Rangers prospect does have five goals and nine points in 12 games with the Reign, though, and may still be worth a few NHL looks at 24 years old.
One defenseman just wasn’t enough perhaps. After recalling Clarke and Andersson earlier this afternoon, the Kings announced they’ve recalled defenseman Frederic Allard from the Ontario Reign as well. Allard’s recall rounds out their roster at a complete 23 players. The 24-year-old has played in just five games this season, all with the Reign, recording one assist, and has played in just a single NHL game in his career, coming with the Nashville Predators back in 2020-21.
Forward Notes: Iafallo, Howden, Balcers
Some good news is coming in the future for the Los Angeles Kings. LA Kings Insider’s Zach Dooley reports that Alex Iafallo has resumed skating on his own, although head coach Todd McLellan said he “won’t be in the lineup for a little while.”
Iafallo has missed 19 games so far this year with a lower-body injury. He remains week-to-week, and it’s likely another week or two at least before he returns. When he does, though, it’ll be a huge boost for a Kings team still in the playoff mix. The 28-year-old had five points through his first four games and remains a valuable top-nine piece in LA.
- Vegas Golden Knights forward Brett Howden is out tonight against the Vancouver Canucks after sustaining a lower-body injury in Thursday’s contest against Ottawa. Head coach Bruce Cassidy still isn’t sure about his return, but he said Howden likely won’t travel on the team’s upcoming road trip. That would put him out for at least four games, potentially returning on December 7 against his former team, the New York Rangers.
- A recent pickup by the Tampa Bay Lightning is set to miss a few games. Forward Rudolfs Balcers, claimed on waivers from Florida earlier in the season, is unlikely to play on the team’s upcoming road trip, according to head coach Jon Cooper. The Bolts’ upcoming three-game swing sees them take on the Sabres, Bruins, and Flyers. Balcers has averaged under seven minutes per game in Tampa and has a goal in his first three Lightning appearances.
Kings Assign Lias Andersson And Jacob Moverare To The AHL
The season-long shuffle continues for the Kings. In an effort to bank extra cap space, the team has been shuffling waiver-exempt players to AHL Ontario on off days. Today, that trend continues as the team announced that they’ve assigned center Lias Andersson and defenseman Jacob Moverare to the Reign. In doing so, the team drops out of using LTIR and will be able to bank at least a little bit of cap room in advance of tomorrow’s game against Ottawa when one or both will likely be recalled.
Andersson cleared waivers last month for the first time and has spent the bulk of this season in the minors. The 24-year-old continues to be quite productive with the Reign, notching five goals and four assists in 11 games but while he has been up with the Kings for the better part of the last two weeks, he has exclusively been a healthy scratch. Even if it’s just for one day, getting into a game with Ontario tonight when they host Tucson certainly wouldn’t hurt.
As for Moverare, he has been the seventh defender with Los Angeles for the last couple of weeks while Brandt Clarke has been on a conditioning assignment with Ontario, one that is going to come to an end in less than 48 hours. The 24-year-old also cleared waivers at the end of training camp and has played in eight games with the Reign this season while getting into two with the Kings where he has averaged just under 15 minutes a night of playing time.
Kings Haven’t Started Extension Talks With Jonathan Quick
A little more than a year ago, it looked like Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick was riding out the stretch of his time with the only organization he’s known, a stretch that dates back to 2005 when he was drafted in the third round. His numbers were dipping and with Cal Petersen inking a three-year, $15MM deal, the writing seemed to be on the wall.
But last season, Quick was by far the better of the two netminders, eventually winning back the starting role while starting every game in their first-round loss to Edmonton. This season, it has been the same with the 36-year-old making more starts than Petersen so far (14-9) while putting up better numbers.
Despite that, Quick told Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times that there have been no discussions when it comes to potentially extending his stay for next season with his 10-year, $58MM contract signed back in 2012 set to expire in July.
In his prime, Quick was one of the top goalies in the NHL, helping lead the Kings to a pair of Stanley Cup titles while picking up a pair of Jennings Trophies as well for the best GAA in the league. His numbers now certainly aren’t at that level – he has a 2.76 GAA and a .904 SV% since the start of the 2019-20 campaign – but he has shown that he can still contribute.
Los Angeles doesn’t exactly have an in-house replacement that’s ready to come up either. Veteran third-stringer Pheonix Copley is the starter with AHL Ontario with 23-year-old Matt Villalta serving as the backup and neither of them projects to be an impact NHL goaltender.
Accordingly, it would make sense for the Kings to at least investigate what it would take to keep Quick around for another year. While such a move wouldn’t solve their longer-term goaltending question mark, it would be a cheaper short-term solution that would allow them to potentially direct some of their spending to help at another position.
Tristan Jarry, Frederik Andersen, and Semyon Varlamov are the most prominent pending UFAs between the pipes assuming they don’t re-sign and would likely cost more than it would to keep Quick in the fold. It’s a scenario that few would have thought possible a couple of years ago when Petersen was anointed the starter of the present and future but to his credit, Quick has done well enough to stay in the mix whether it’s with Los Angeles or elsewhere.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Los Angeles Kings Recall Three Players From AHL
Nov 21: With the team back in action tomorrow night, all three players have now been recalled.
Nov 20: The Los Angeles Kings have announced that they have loaned three players to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. Per the team announcement, forwards Rasmus Kupari and Lias Andersson, as well as defenseman Jacob Moverare are headed to the AHL.
Andersson and Moverare were called up a week ago, when the Kings placed Brendan Lemieux on Injured Reserve and sent down Brandt Clarke on a conditioning loan.
Now, both Andersson and Moverare will head back to Ontario. Moverare got skated in one game for the Kings, while Andersson didn’t get into the lineup.
Kupari, on the other hand, has spent most of his season in Los Angeles. The 2018 20th overall pick has four points in 12 games on just over 11 minutes of time on ice per game. Kupari has six points in six AHL games so far this year and should help bolster an Ontario attack that ranks 26th in the AHL in goals scored.
Andersson, 24, was the seventh overall pick at the 2017 draft. Los Angeles acquired him from the New York Rangers for a 2020 second-round pick hoping that a change of scenery would help his development, but things haven’t gone to plan for Andersson as a King. He has just eight points in 43 career games in Los Angeles, although he has been solid at the AHL level. Now back in Ontario, he should resume his role as a top-of-the-lineup AHL contributor.
Moverare, 24, was not a first-round pick as Andersson and Kupari were. Drafted in the fourth round in 2016, Moverare has developed into a nice depth defender for the Kings. The six-foot-three, 210-pound Swede has 20 NHL games on his resume and is trusted for his safe defense-first style.
Moverare’s 19-game NHL run last season included minutes on the Kings’ penalty kill, so expect him to return in that role if the Kings face some significant blueline injuries, as they did in 2021-22.
No corresponding call-ups were announced along with these loans, but it’s possible that Clarke is headed back to Los Angeles in the near future. These moves could also signal that Lemieux, who was sidelined with a lower-body injury, could be nearing a return.
Kings Not Willing To Deal From Defense Surplus As Of Right Now
- Earlier today on TSN’s Insider Trading segment, Pierre LeBrun touched on the Los Angeles Kings and their envious predicament of having too many defenseman. As a response, the team has placed defenseman Brandt Clarke on a conditioning loan in the AHL and Jordan Spence, who has proven to be a capable NHL defenseman, is currently a teammate of Clarke’s with the Ontario Reign of the AHL. LeBrun notes that teams have been wondering if the Kings are or will be willing to trade from their defensive depth, however it appears Los Angeles has indicated they are planning to hold onto their defenseman, at least for now.
Los Angeles Kings Place Brendan Lemieux On IR; Recall Jacob Moverare, Lias Andersson
Prior to departing for a four game road trip, the Los Angeles Kings have made a flurry of roster moves on this Sunday afternoon, the team announced. First, forward Brendan Lemieux has been placed on IR with a lower-body injury. The team has also recalled forward Lias Andersson and defenseman Jacob Moverare from the Ontario Reign, their AHL affiliate. Finally, they have also assigned defenseman Brandt Clarke to Ontario on a conditioning loan.
It’s unclear what exactly the nature of Lemieux’s injury is, however the forward did play in the first two periods of yesterday’s game against the Detroit Red Wings, but failed to return for the third period. As LA Kings Insider’s Zach Dooley mentions, Kings head coach Todd McLellan said the winger could be out a “little while.” Though he’s only tallied three points, all assists, in 15 games so far this season, Lemieux has been a welcomed, physical presence in the Kings lineup, notching 28 penalty minutes already on the young season.
Moverare, 24, has bounced between Los Angeles and Ontario quite a bit the past two seasons. The Swedish defenseman made his NHL debut in 2021-22, skating in 19 games for the Kings, but has yet to play in the NHL in 2022-23, despite being on the Kings roster at times. In eight games with Ontario this season, Moverare has a pair of assists. As for Andersson, the former seventh-overall pick has yet to skate in the NHL so far this season either, but has been off to a hot start in the AHL, scoring five goals to go with four assists in just 11 games. While he’s not the physical presence that Lemieux is, if Andersson can carry his solid play into the NHL should he get the opportunity, it could be an intriguing addition for the equally hot Kings.
As to the 19-year-old Clarke, he has not played in the Kings’ previous five games, but not due to injury. The defenseman’s play his been alright through his first nine NHL games, however after scratching him and not making lineup changes since, the Kings have turned in a 4-0-1 record. Although Clarke is not eligible to be sent to the AHL full-time (as he’s still junior eligible), Los Angeles was able to utilize a 14-day conditioning loan, allowing him to get into regular, professional game action with the Reign and still be eligible to rejoin the Kings in two weeks. In that time, Ontario will play six games, which includes a matchup with the San Diego Gulls this afternoon, which Clarke is eligible to play in.
Los Angeles Kings Activate Alex Turcotte; Assign To AHL
While so many of the other top-ten picks from 2019 have started to pay huge dividends for their teams, one name remains completely scoreless in the NHL. Alex Turcotte, selected fifth overall by the Los Angeles Kings, has had his career limited by concussions so far and has suited up just eight times at the highest level.
Today, there was some good news. Turcotte has been activated from injured reserve and loaned to the Ontario Reign of the AHL. Jared Shafran, Reign communications manager, tweeted out an encouraging quote from the young forward:
It’s been a pretty tough year with the uncertainty of not knowing when I was going to play again or feel normal again. but now I feel the best I’ve probably ever felt. I’m 100%.
A dominant center with the USNTDP and then for one year at Wisconsin, Turcotte started out his AHL career with 21 points in 32 games during the 2020-21 season. He made his NHL debut last year and suited up eight times, but failed to register a single point. Now 21, he’ll try to get his career back on track and fill some of the promise that made him such a high draft pick.
The Kings will likely take his development slow, but hopefully, his concussion issues are behind him and Turcotte can become an impact player for the team down the road. He is still signed through 2023-24 on his entry-level deal and can move up and down between the AHL and NHL without requiring waivers.
Los Angeles Kings Loan Quinton Byfield To AHL
The Los Angeles Kings have loaned young forward Quinton Byfield to the Ontario Reign of the AHL, the team announced this afternoon. No corresponding move has been announced. The moves comes after Byfield missed the previous six games due to illness.
After winning a regular job in the Kings lineup out of training camp, Byfield was off to a modest start to the season with three assists in eight games. The second-overall selection in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, Byfield hasn’t yet hit the ceiling the Kings may have been hoping for, however that doesn’t appear to be the reason for the assignment. According to Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider, the move appears to be one that will allow Byfield to get back into game shape after the illness.
That point was furthered by Kings head coach Todd McLellan, who spoke with Dooley. McLellan said Byfield being on the ice in the first place was a great sign, considering the forward had lost a lot of weight. McLellan added that he doesn’t believe a player should lose his place because of injury or illness and that no decision on Byfield or Rasmus Kupari, a fellow Kings first-round pick who has occupied Byfield’s place on the third line nicely, needs to be made yet because Byfield simply isn’t ready to play. Kupari has a goal and an assist in five games with the Kings so far this season.