- The Kings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Christian Wolanin from AHL Ontario. This is the fifth time that the 27-year-old has been shuffled between the NHL and the minors since last Saturday.
Kings Rumors
Kings Sign Taylor Ward
The Kings have added to their prospect pool as the team announced that they’ve signed forward Taylor Ward to a one-year, entry-level contract. The deal is for next season and Ward will join Ontario of the AHL on an ATO agreement for the remainder of this season.
The 22-year-old recently wrapped up his fourth and final season with the University of Nebraska-Omaha. Through his first three years, he had been fairly consistent offensively, notching between 22 and 27 points but this season, Ward was able to take a big step forward in his production. In 38 games, he led the Mavericks in scoring with 19 goals and 20 assists and was the only player on the team to score more than 10 goals which likely got the power forward on the NHL radar.
Ward’s cap hit will be $842.5K next season. That suggests a base salary of $750K plus a maximum $92.5K signing bonus which means there will be at least $82.5K in performance bonuses in the deal as well.
Andreas Athanasiou Placed On IR, Christian Wolanin Recalled
- The Kings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled defenseman Christian Wolanin from AHL Ontario. The 26-year-old started off the season in the NHL but has spent most of the year with the Reign where he has 11 assists in 24 games. To make room for Wolanin on the roster, the team placed winger Andreas Athanasiou on IR retroactive to March 10th.
Kings AHL Head Coach John Wroblewski Resigns
Back in December, John Wroblewski took a leave of absence for personal reasons as head coach of the AHL’s Ontario Reign, the top affiliate of the Kings. Today, the team announced that Wroblewski’s absence would be a permanent one as it was mutually determined that he would not return. Wroblewski released the following statement:
Thank you to the Ontario Reign and everyone with the LA Kings organization for all of their support during my leave of absence. After discussions with the team, we have come to an amicable agreement that will allow me to go in a different direction. I’m looking forward to returning to coaching at the appropriate time.
The 40-year-old joined the Kings organization in 2020 after leading the U.S. National Team Development Program for four seasons where he worked with many top prospects, several of which have already moved into top roles in the NHL. Wroblewski has been coaching since 2007-08 and has clearly indicated a willingness to return behind the bench down the road.
In the meantime, Reign assistant coaches Chris Hajt and Craig Johnson had been running the team and that will continue, per the team’s release. A search for a full-time head coach will likely need to wait until the offseason now.
Trade Deadline Primer: Los Angeles Kings
As the calendar turns to March, the trade deadline is inching closer. Where does each team stand and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Los Angeles Kings.
After three straight seasons languishing at the bottom of the NHL’s Pacific Division, the Los Angeles Kings’ long-term plan under GM Rob Blake seems to be finally starting to bear fruit. The Kings are currently sitting second in the Pacific, ahead of the rival Vegas Golden Knights, and have been a surprisingly competitive team this season, with many of their players either having resurgent seasons or reaching new heights in terms of production. This has led to a shift in approach towards the trade deadline for the Kings. Whereas most observers probably would not have expected the team to be too active beyond some light selling, the team’s performance this year has vaulted them into definite buyer status. They’re probably not going to go big-game hunting and be mortgaging their future for an expensive rental, but fans should expect the team to at the very least be engaged in the conversation surrounding potential reinforcements for their squad.
Record
32-19-7, 2nd in the Pacific
Deadline Status
Buyer (but not an all-in buyer)
Deadline Cap Space
$6.3MM today, $6.3MM in full-season space, 47/50 contracts used, 1/3 retention slots used
Upcoming Draft Picks
2022: LAK 1st, LAK 2nd, PIT 3rd, LAK 4th, LAK 5th, LAK 6th, LAK 7th
2023: LAK 1st, LAK 2nd, LAK 3rd, PIT 3rd, LAK 4th, LAK 5th, LAK 6th, LAK 7th
Trade Chips
Despite having scored three goals in the past two games, Andreas Athanasiou is a potential candidate to be traded at this deadline. After a moderately successful season last year where he posted 10 goals and 23 points in 47 games, Athanasiou has filtered in and out of the lineup and been unable to show any consistency. His raw numbers of 12 points (including eight goals) in 21 games aren’t bad, but it’s clear coach Todd McLellan doesn’t trust him to be a lineup staple, and his current slot as the left winger on the Phillip Danault line is a spot he’s set to lose once Viktor Arvidsson returns from injury. The whole situation, combined with Athanasiou’s expiring $2.7MM cap hit, makes him the perfect candidate to be traded at this deadline, and he would specifically fit as a means of balancing salary if the Kings pursue an expensive veteran addition. Athanasiou on the ice offers blazing speed and potential 30 goal upside (he scored 30 in 2018-19) but his inability to put together his rare tools into a consistent complete package means his days in Los Angeles are likely numbered.
Should the Kings pursue a major player at the deadline, one of the likelier pieces for the selling club to receive from Los Angeles is 2017 11th overall pick Gabriel Vilardi. Vilardi, 22, is a big center who has struggled with injuries throughout his career, both as a professional and when he played in the OHL. Vilardi has been productive this year with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. He has 15 goals and 37 points in 37 games, and he flashed that skill at the NHL level last season when he had 10 goals and 23 points in 54 games. Vilardi profiles as a potential top-6 center and should be able to help the Kings acquire a valuable veteran player should the team choose to go down that route.
If the Kings want to go a cheaper route when acquiring reinforcements for their squad, they could potentially trade a less important young player such as Carl Grundstrom. Grundstrom, 24, came to Los Angeles as part of the Kings’ trade of Jake Muzzin and has been a regular member of their bottom-six for the past two seasons. Offensively he doesn’t jump off the page, with 11 points in 34 games this year and 11 points in 47 last year, but he was once a highly-regarded two-way prospect and perhaps another team could view him as a piece with more upside to be unlocked. He’s the kind of player who may fit as in player-plus-pick deal for a less in-demand veteran due to him being a capable NHL player under the age of 25 with some pedigree as a former well-regarded prospect.
Others to watch for: F Lias Andersson, D Olli Maatta, F Alex Turcotte
Team Needs:
1) Scoring/Power Play Help
Beyond Anze Kopitar’s 51 points in 58 games, the Kings are missing a slam-dunk scorer and instead rely on a more offense-by-committee approach. That has worked for them pretty well so far this year, especially as the Arvidsson-Danault-Trevor Moore line has emerged as an absolute force, but there is still room for improvement. The Kings’ power play ranks 5th-worst in the NHL, at 16.4%, the lowest mark for any team currently sitting in playoff position. For the team to be truly considered a playoff contender they need to improve their scoring, and to do that they can add a proven scorer or even a powerplay specialist, like the Arizona Coyotes’ Phil Kessel, for example. But regardless of what direction Blake chooses to go at the deadline, it’s clear that improving the power play should be a priority.
2) Defensive reinforcements
Just as the Kings’ power play has struggled, their penalty kill has been similarly bad. The team currently kills off 75.8% of opposing power plays, 8th-worst in the NHL. The Kings’ defense has a star in Drew Doughty and veterans such as Maatta and Alexander Edler, but beyond that trio, their defense is missing pieces with much NHL experience or an accomplished defensive resume. Playoff hockey is extraordinarily difficult and physically intense, and the Kings’ defense might not be equipped to hold up to that pressure. Adding a veteran defenseman or two to take the load off of young players like Sean Durzi and Tobias Bjornfot could be a very helpful move as the Kings look to cement their status as a playoff team down the stretch.
Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports Images
AHL Shuffle: 03/09/22
Just two games in the NHL this evening, though that does include a matchup between Connor McDavid and Alex Ovechkin. The Edmonton Oilers and Washington Capitals will do battle in a game of two teams headed in opposite directions. The Oilers have lost three in a row and are running the risk of falling out of the Pacific Division playoff race, while the Capitals stormed back yesterday to take their third in a row. As they and others prepare for action, we’ll keep track of all the minor league shuffling.
Atlantic Division
- The Montreal Canadiens have sent down defenseman Corey Schueneman to the AHL’s Laval Rocket. Schueneman, 26, is an undrafted player who impressed in brief NHL action under coach Martin St. Louis and is now headed back to Laval where he has 10 points in 27 games.
Metropolitan Division
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have sent Kasper Bjorkqvist back to the AHL, without him actually getting into a game during this recall. The 24-year-old forward has played in six games this season, all of them coming back in January, and has a single goal.
- The Carolina Hurricanes have recalled goaltender Alex Lyon from the AHL’s Chicago Wolves. Lyon was sent down on Monday and returns to the Hurricanes roster sporting a .908 save percentage in his 2 NHL appearances this season.
Central Division
- Nathan Beaulieu has been moved to long-term injured reserve, with the Winnipeg Jets recalling Ville Heinola in his place. That doesn’t necessarily mean he’s getting into the lineup though, as Heinola figures to be the seventh defenseman on the upcoming road trip (at least to start).
Pacific Division
- The Los Angeles Kings have moved Mikey Anderson to injured reserve, recalling Jordan Spence to take his place on the roster. Spence, 21, has been lighting up the minor leagues in his first year of professional hockey, scoring 42 points in 46 games for the Ontario Reign. The fourth-round pick has a very interesting background, including being born in Australia and learning to play hockey in Japan before eventually returning to Canada at 13, the country he competes for internationally.
- The Anaheim Ducks have sent Brendan Guhle to the AHL, as Josh Manson continues to get closer to returning and after the team claimed Andrej Sustr off waivers. Guhle, 24, hasn’t even played in an NHL game this season, despite being up with the team on several occasions.
- The Edmonton Oilers have activated Zack Kassian off of long-term injured reserve and then added Kyle Turris to the list in a corresponding move, according to Daniel Nugent-Bowman of The Athletic. Kassian has 14 points in 35 games this year and returns to an Oilers lineup that he has featured in for seven seasons. Turris, 32, was previously mentioned as a trade candidate and has only 4 points in 23 games for the Oilers this season.
This page will be updated throughout the day
Lias Andersson Recalled From Conditioning Loan
March 8: After four excellent games with the Reign, Andersson has been recalled from his conditioning loan and activated from injured reserve. The young forward scored six goals in those four games, actually matching his previous minor league high in just a week’s time. To make room on the Kings’ active roster, Brendan Lemieux has been moved to injured reserve, retroactive to March 4.
March 2: Los Angeles Kings forward Lias Andersson has been sent to the AHL on a conditioning loan, suggesting he is nearing a return from the undisclosed injury that has kept him out for nearly two months.
The loan is of the long-term injury variety, meaning he does not need to be activated before sending him down and he will still not appear on the Kings’ roster while he plays in the minor leagues. He hasn’t played an NHL game since January 8 and has just 13 appearances this season.
Last season, when Andersson spent some time in the AHL, he dominated the competition, scoring 17 points in 15 games for the Ontario Reign. That success hasn’t carried over to the Kings this year though, as the 2017 seventh-overall pick still can’t seem to find any consistency at the NHL level. In those 13 appearances this season, he has just a single point, taking his career total to 16 in 102 games.
An arbitration-eligible restricted free agent at the end of the season, Andersson is getting dangerously close to going unqualified, given he will be 24 in October and has shown very rare flashes of NHL-quality play to this point. Perhaps the Kings believe he can still take that next step, but a good stretch run this season would be huge for the future of his professional career in North America.
Todd McLellan Enters COVID Protocol
- The Kings were without head coach Todd McLellan last night as he was placed into COVID protocol, the team announced (Twitter link). Trent Yawney was the acting head coach for their win in Anaheim and should stay in that role until McLellan is cleared to return which should be in five days from now.
Latest On Jakob Chychrun
The Trade Deadline is still over a month away, but that hasn’t stopped activity from slowly beginning to increase across the league. That trend doesn’t appear to be stopping, as multiple big names are still on the market and could be moved prior to the deadline. One of those names is Arizona Coyotes defenseman Jakob Chychrun, who’s probably the best defenseman available.
Trade talk has surrounded Chychrun all throughout this season, as a tough year for the Coyotes has meant a tough year for him personally on the ice. Now, The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reports that there’s an “increased level of activity” surrounding Chychrun trade discussions, and it appears as though the Los Angeles Kings are the current frontrunner in those talks.
While it’s obviously impossible to predict a return, Pagnotta reports that sources indicate the Coyotes are interested in a package from Los Angeles that includes prospect Gabriel Vilardi. Selected 11th overall back in 2017, Vilardi’s struggled with injury during his development process but looked at home in L.A. last season with 23 points in 54 games. With just one assist in 7 NHL games this season, though, he’s been spending a lot of time with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. There, he’s chugging along with 29 points in 29 games, a positive indicator there.
The Kings currently sit with 59 points and the second Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. While the team’s received strong play from Drew Doughty, Matt Roy, and Sean Durzi on the right side defensively, their left side lacks a higher-end, experienced NHL defenseman. While Chychrun is just 23, he’s at least been in the league for a few seasons and even has some brief playoff experience under his belt. There’s a natural fit for him atop the defensive depth chart on a pairing with Doughty, a situation that could help him rediscover the offensive side of his game.
Los Angeles Kings Looking For Left-Shot Defenseman
Before the season began, very few prognosticators expected the Los Angeles Kings to be within a few points of the Pacific Division crown at this point. More than halfway through the season, the Kings are just four points behind the Vegas Golden Knights and sitting in a divisional playoff spot with a 23-16-7 record. Their group has been led by a rejuvenated Drew Doughty a still-elite Anze Kopitar and a few new characters, like Viktor Arvidsson and Phillip Danault.
If there’s something the group could use, it’s a left-shot defenseman, writes Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet in his latest 32 Thoughts column. The scribe asked Kings GM Rob Blake directly about Jakob Chychrun, but couldn’t coax an answer out of him despite the obvious fit. Chychrun’s name has been bandied about by Kings fans ever since the Arizona Coyotes made it clear he was available, given how well he’d fit into a top-four role to support Doughty and the otherwise rather inexperienced defense group.
In Sunday’s game, for instance, the Kings had a back end that included Tobias Bjornfot (81 career games going in), Sean Durzi (27), Austin Strand (15), and Jacob Moverare (1). Olli Maatta was the only defenseman other than Doughty with even a full season under his belt, and his future with the Kings is murky at best. The 27-year-old is an unrestricted free agent at the end of the year and has been rather pedestrian since arriving in 2020. Chychrun, with a contract that lasts another few years, would make obvious sense but he’s a pricey target and not the only left-shot available.
Ben Chiarot’s name has been thrown around in trade talks for months, and he would represent the “size” element that the Kings are looking for. The Montreal Canadiens defender stands 6’3″ and is one of the most physical defensemen in the league in front of the net. He also obviously has familiarity with Danault, as the two were often on the ice at the same time against the opponent’s best players during Montreal’s playoff run last year.
The Seattle Kraken will have to soon make a decision on what to do with Mark Giordano, who is a pending free agent but also the team’s first captain. Kraken GM Ron Francis told Ryan S. Clark of The Athletic that they’ll have a face-to-face talk with Giordano at some point in the near future to determine what he wants to do. The 38-year-old represents a much different option than someone like Chiarot, but would add a ton of experience to a young defensive group in Los Angeles.
One other interesting thing that Blake noted to Friedman is that the team is comfortable going into next season with Jonathan Quick and Cal Petersen both on the roster, despite an expensive extension kicking in for the latter. Combined, they would carry a cap hit of $10.8MM, but Blake notes that because of some entry-level bargains on the roster, they’d be able to afford it for the one year remaining on Quick’s deal.