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Los Angeles Kings Emergency Recall Jordan Spence

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The Los Angeles Kings announced Wednesday that they have recalled defenseman Jordan Spence on an emergency basis from their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

Spence, 22, has been playing with the Reign for most of the season, scoring four goals and adding 38 assists in 53 games. The move comes as the Kings deal with a rash of injuries on their blue line, with Alex Edler and Mikey Anderson currently sidelined with undisclosed injuries.

The Kings are well-positioned for the stretch run, having clinched a playoff berth earlier this week. The focus now sets on playoff positioning, with the most likely outcome a rematch of last year’s First Round series against the Edmonton Oilers. Spence isn’t coming into potential NHL action cold turkey, though, having played five games earlier this season with the Kings and being involved in multiple paper transactions throughout the year. He also recorded eight points in 24 games last season with Los Angeles and appeared in three playoff games.

Spence, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2019 NHL Draft by the Kings, is a skilled puck-mover who excels in transition and logs big minutes at the minor-league level. He also possesses a solid defensive game, using his quick feet and positioning to shut down opposing forwards. He figures to be a future piece in the team’s top six defense corps, and he’s a great option to have on hand as a depth call-up at this stage in his development.

West Injury Notes: Smith, Kaprizov, Edler

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The Vegas Golden Knights got some good news today as forward Reilly Smith practiced in a full-contact jersey, with head coach Bruce Cassidy indicating he’s on track to play in tonight’s game against the Minnesota Wild. Smith had been sidelined with a lower-body injury since March 24, but he has been making progress in his recovery and is now ready to return to action.

Smith, 32, has again been one of the Golden Knights’ top offensive contributors, with 24 goals and 27 assists in 72 games played. His return to the lineup should give the team a boost as they try to maintain their position atop the Pacific Division standings. He’s projected to make his return alongside William Karlsson, his center for the better part of six seasons in Vegas, and Nicolas Roy, who will see an increased role as youngsters Paul Cotter and Pavel Dorofeyev are scratched.

  • While his recovery has been slightly slower than expected, Minnesota Wild superstar Kirill Kaprizov skated for the first time today since sustaining a leg injury in early March, according to The Athletic’s Joe Smith. He’s been sidelined for 11 games already and was originally expected to only miss four weeks. With that deadline looming this weekend, however, it’s unlikely he’ll make an on-time return to the lineup. The team has been able to find consistency in his absence, however, going 7-2-2 without Kaprizov in the lineup.
  • The Los Angeles Kings suffered a setback in their game against the Vancouver Canucks last night as defenseman Alex Edler left the game due to an upper-body injury, per the team. Edler, who was acquired by the Kings as a free agent in 2021, has provided an experienced presence to the team’s bottom pairing. There is no word yet on the severity of Edler’s injury or how long he may be out of the lineup, and he’ll likely be replaced in the lineup by 21-year-old Tobias Bjornfot for the time being.

Alex Iafallo Placed On Injured Reserve

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The Los Angeles Kings have lost a key player for the next little while, as Alex Iafallo has been placed on injured reserve. The speedy forward suffered a lower-body injury last night against the Detroit Red Wings after delivering a hit in the third period. He limped off the ice and now will be sidelined for at least the next several games. Jon Rosen of NHL Network tweets that Iafallo is out “week-to-week” and is headed back to Los Angeles for further evaluation.

In his roster spot, the team has recalled defenseman Jacob Moverare from the AHL. The 24-year-old played 19 games for the team last season but failed to make the NHL roster out of camp. He gives the team an additional defender as they deal with a less serious injury for Alex Edler, who got hit in the face with a puck in warmup last night.

It is unfortunate news for Iafallo, who was off to a brilliant start this season with five points while registering at least one in all four games. The 28-year-old is in the second season of a four-year, $16MM contract he signed in 2021 and is one of the many talented wingers that make the Kings lineup so deep. He plays a strong two-way game without taking any penalties (he has just 14 minutes since the start of 2020-21) and offers a solid amount of secondary scoring.

Without him, the teams will have to shuffle things around a bit and perhaps give a bit more opportunity to a young player. Arthur Kaliyev (who didn’t play yesterday) is the most likely fit, though there has been a lack of trust for the 21-year-old early this year. He is averaging just over nine minutes of ice time in the three games he has played, though that has still resulted in a goal and assist for the talented young forward. An opportunity like this could be just what he needs to build on a strong rookie season, where he scored 14 goals and 27 points in 80 games.

Injury Updates: Montour, Timmins, DeBrusk, Edler

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Just ahead of their game this evening, the Florida Panthers announced that defenseman Brandon Montour would not play. Per the team announcement, Montour is suffering from an upper-body injury. It’s unclear exactly how Montour suffered the injury; the defenseman has played in each of the team’s first two games this season, playing 24:56 opening night and 21:44 in Saturday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres.

An interesting wrinkle in this is, because the Panthers have had to carry a light roster due to their position against the salary cap, they will not be replacing Montour in the lineup. Instead, the team will run with 17 skaters – twelve forwards and five on defense. Considering teams only need 18 skaters and a pair of goaltenders to field a full team, it would seem practical for a team in such a cap situation to only carry 18 players on the roster, however a situation like the one Florida faces this evening is a prime example of why that strategy could cause issues down the line.

  • Arizona Coyotes defenseman Conor Timmins will miss tonight’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs with an upper-body injury, says the team. Fortunately for Timmins, who missed significant time last season due to injury, it appears he is only day-to-day.
  • Jake DeBrusk will make his return to the Boston Bruins lineup this evening after missing Boston’s last game. The winger was injured in the team’s opening night game against the Washington Capitals after playing just 11:06. Given Boston’s slate of injury issues, especially to winger Brad Marchand, getting the offensive-minded forward back in the lineup will be key to staying in contention while the team’s stars recover. DeBrusk will be taking the place of forward Jakub Lauko in the lineup. The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa was the first to report DeBrusk had re-entered the lineup.
  • Per the Los Angeles Kings, defenseman Alex Edler will not play in tonight’s game against the Detroit Red Wings. Edler was originally expected to be in the lineup, but took a puck to the face during warmups. The veteran defenseman will be replaced by Sean Walker. No update is available yet on how severe the injury is.

Los Angeles Kings Extend Alex Edler

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The Los Angeles Kings are bringing back a valuable veteran defenseman. Alexander Edler has signed a one-year, league-minimum $750,000 extension to stay in Southern California, per the team. The 35+ contract also has the potential to earn Edler an additional $750,000 in games played bonuses. Per PuckPedia, the contract also includes a no-movement clause.

Edler, 36, spent his first NHL season outside of the Vancouver Canucks organization in 2021-22. His first season went well with the Kings in a reduced role, helping guide a youthful defense to strong play en route to the team’s first playoff appearance since 2018. He finished the season with three goals, 16 assists, 19 points, and a +18 rating in just 41 games due to injury. He did average just 18:28 per game, his first time averaging under 20 minutes per game as a full-time NHL player.

Another season for Edler puts him within striking distance of the 1,000 games played mark. Currently sitting at 966, the Swedish defenseman will need to suit up at least 34 times for the Kings in the regular season to hit the milestone. It’s a signifier of how impressive Edler’s career has been, and while it may be nearing its end, he’s a stellar model of leadership and consistency for the younger Kings to emulate.

With that quickly-improving young defense, though, the news likely means the Kings won’t be active on the free-agent defense market. With Michael Anderson, Sean Durzi, and Tobias Bjornfot earning NHL spots moving forward (just to name a few), and Sean Walker returning from a season-long injury absence, there aren’t any more spots available barring a trade.

The surging Kings are also beginning to push against the salary cap. With just over $3.5MM in projected space left according to CapFriendly, and Anderson and Durzi needing new contracts, don’t expect the team to make many more waves after Edler’s extension.

Kings Place Alex Edler On Injured Reserve

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The Los Angeles Kings were hoping to take a step forward this season in their pursuit of a postseason return. A key move made this summer to help achieve that goal was the signing of veteran defenseman Alex Edler. The career Vancouver Canuck only signed a one-year deal, but his two-way ability and veteran presence was expected to be a major addition both on and off the ice in L.A. To this point, Edler has been even more important than anticipated. With star Drew Doughty having missed time due to injury and Sean Walker out for the season with an injury of his own, Edler has been relied upon as one of the few constant contributors of experience and scoring on the Kings blue line.

That is, until now. The Kings have announced that Edler has been placed on injured reserve following an awkward collision into the boards on Saturday night forced him from the game. Edler received a check from Minnesota Wild forward Brandon Duhaime in the first period and lost his balance, falling against the boards in his own zone. Edler’s left ankle appeared to give way as he fell and as Edler was being helped from the ice, he was unable to put any weight on his left leg. To this point, the team has only described the situation as a lower-body injury.

With Edler out, the Kings are losing their defensive scoring leader who has 11 points in 26 games. Edler also leads the team in plus/minus and is second in blocked shots and hits; the reliable defender has played no small role in L.A. this season. Christian Wolanin has been recalled to replace Edler’s roster spot, but it is Olli Maatta that is likely to draw into the lineup first. More pressure will also be placed on Matt Roy, who is enjoying the best season of his career, and rookies Michael Anderson and Tobias Bjornfot, who have excelled thus far despite adversity. The Kings’ season is not quite living up to the expectations they had imagined this season, as they currently sit sixth in the Pacific Division, but their points percentage has improved since last season and the team has a chance to stay in the playoff mix if they can survive another significant defensive absence. The team has not issued any update on the severity of Edler’s injury or any timeline on a return, but the hope is certainly that they will not be without their major free agent addition for too long.

Pacific Notes: Canucks, Koekkoek, Edler

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While many teams have dealt with most of their restricted free agents already, that can’t be said for Vancouver who still has center Elias Pettersson and defenseman Quinn Hughes among their unsigned youngsters.  Speaking with Postmedia’s Patrick Johnston, Pat Brisson – who represents both players – noted that there’s no holdup in talks between him and the Canucks.  Part of the delay is that both short-term and long-term deals are being pondered for both players although it’s unlikely they will be able to afford to give each of them a contract that would buy out some UFA eligibility.  It wouldn’t be surprising if talks pick up once they get a deal done with RFA center Jason Dickinson whose arbitration hearing is set for Friday.  Once that’s in place, they’ll have a better idea of how much they’ll be able to spend on their two young stars.

More from the Pacific:

  • David Staples of the Edmonton Journal examined the recent two-year deal that the Oilers handed to defenseman Slater Koekkoek. While his numbers were underwhelming last season – one goal in 18 games while averaging just 13:10 per contest – he was better than several Edmonton blueliners in terms of frequency of allowing scoring chances.  Koekkoek’s numbers usually wouldn’t be good enough to yield a multi-year contract so there’s a good chance that the team was intrigued by that particular stat as well.
  • Defenseman Alex Edler told Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider that part of the reason that he signed with the Kings was how much interest they showed in him early along with the fit he’d have with the team. He added that he did field interest from other teams which likely helped push his price tag up to $3.5MM for next season, a somewhat high price tag for a player who had just eight assists in 52 games while logging his lowest ice time since 2007-08.  The 35-year-old should have a prominent role with Los Angeles next season and could be used in a shutdown capacity similar to the role he had at times in Vancouver.

Los Angeles Kings Sign Alex Edler

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Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that the Los Angeles Kings have shored up their defense today, signing veteran defenseman Alexander Edler. The deal is for one year, per Pierre LeBrun, and carries a cap hit of $3.5MM.

Edler, 35, is joining just the second NHL team of his career after spending 925 games and parts of 15 seasons with the Vancouver Canucks. Once a star two-way defender who could log more than 24 minutes a night against the other team’s best, racking up 30-point season after 30-point season, it’s obvious that Edler is no longer going to change the look of a defensive group. Instead, he should be able to provide some experienced depth to a unit in Los Angeles that doesn’t have much of it.

Take out Drew Doughty and you have a defense corps for the Kings where 26-year-old Olli Maatta is the grizzled veteran, he of 468 NHL games. The others are either young or inexperienced (or both), meaning Edler should be an important member this season if they have their sights set on a playoff spot. While $3.5MM might be a little pricey for the player he is now, a one-year deal offers almost no risk for the Kings, unless you consider the opportunity cost of the roster spot. There will still be plenty of minutes for the young guns though, and if the team falls out of the race, Edler makes a nice deadline chip to flip for a mid-round pick.

Alexander Edler Expected To Test Free Agency

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The Vancouver Canucks could soon part ways with one of their franchise icons. Alexander Edler will test the free agent market, his agent Mark Stowe told Rick Dhaliwal of CHEK TV. Edler has played his entire 925-game career in Vancouver.

While this could just be a negotiating tactic from Edler’s representatives, the two sides may also just be ready to move on. Now 35, Edler’s role with the Canucks this season was diminished, receiving almost no powerplay work as Quinn Hughes and Nate Schmidt quarterbacked the two units. His even-strength ice time ranked fifth among Canucks defensemen, though his short-handed role was still necessary.

Stowe explained that this is likely the last time Edler really has the chance to test the market given his age, hinting that he perhaps is looking for a multi-year deal to finish his career. There may still be a spot for him around the league, but with age has come a drastic decline in effectiveness for Edler as well.

At one point, the smooth-skating defenseman could glide around the ice effortlessly, shutting down rushes and jumping into the offense whenever needed. He formed quite a dynamic triangle with Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin whenever on the ice together, leading to 13 straight seasons of at least 20 points. That skating stride has slowed, however, and Edler was exposed at times this season to some of the speed and skill in the league. While perhaps not as bad as his tough defensive deployment made him look this year, there’s certainly no guarantee he can handle top-four minutes at this point in his career.

For the Canucks, it was never likely that they could bring Edler back on anything close to the $6MM he has earned in each of the last two seasons. The team needs that cap space for Elias Pettersson and Hughes extensions as both young stars reach restricted free agency. If Edler wants one last payday, it likely wasn’t going to come in Vancouver.

Alexander Edler Wants To Play In 2021-22

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Alexander Edler has hit the ice for the Vancouver Canucks 1,007 times in his NHL career. He has never played a game for another franchise but now enters another uncertain offseason as an unrestricted free agent. One thing that is certain is that he has no plans on retirement; Edler told reporters including Thomas Drance of The Athletic that he wants to play in 2021-22.

In 2019, the Canucks faced a similar decision. Edler made it clear he wanted to stay in Vancouver and the two sides agreed on a two-year, $12MM deal that actually represented the highest per-season salary of his career. The difference now is that Edler is 35 and coming off his worst offensive season, with just eight points in 52 games. For a player that had never registered fewer than 20 previously, that was a precipitous dropoff. Edler’s down year also came in a difficult season for the Canucks, who finished in last place in the North Division.

There’s no doubt that Edler’s next contract will come at a considerably lower salary than his last one, but will it come in Vancouver? The Canucks have young defensemen like Jack Rathbone and Olli Juolevi who will need increased roles, while Tyler Myers and Nate Schmidt are still taking up nearly $12MM in cap already. Quinn Hughes, the team’s most dynamic defender, is up for a new contract and will likely take up a huge chunk of the team’s remaining cap space.

Edler has only received votes for the Norris Trophy on one occasion but he has been a staple in the Canucks lineup since 2007. He sits fourth in franchise games played behind only Henrik Sedin, Daniel Sedin, and Trevor Linden, tenth in all-time points despite being a defenseman.

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