Los Angeles Kings To Activate Joel Armia
Over the last few weeks, the Los Angeles Kings have climbed back into a postseason spot while dealing with multiple injuries to their forward corps. They’ll get some reinforcements for tomorrow.
Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period passed along a note from interim head coach of the Kings, D.J. Smith, saying that forward Joel Armia would return tomorrow against the Buffalo Sabres. Armia has been dealing with an upper-body injury for the last few weeks.
It’s certainly longer than Los Angeles expected Armia to miss. He was originally expected to miss a few days with the upper-body ailment. His last game played came on February 26th against the Edmonton Oilers.
While he won’t have as much impact as Kevin Fiala might have, Armia’s return to the lineup will still give the Kings more offensive firepower. He has played in 53 games this year, scoring 10 goals and accumulating 20 points.
Typically, at even strength, Armia plays on Los Angeles’ bottom two lines, while getting a few more minutes with special teams. He has been particularly solid on the penalty kill, tied for second in the league with four shorthanded goals on the year.
Additionally, he is responsible on the defensive side of the puck, which is imperative for a winger playing in the bottom six. Armia has managed a 92.2% on-ice SV% at even strength, making for one of the best outputs of his 12-year career.
Not only are the Kings back in a playoff spot, but they are projected to finish there based on points percentage. Including tonight, Los Angeles will play postseason or near-postseason-bound teams in five out of their remaining 14 games in the regular season, giving them a good opportunity to reach the Stanley Cup playoffs.
Kings Place Joel Armia On IR
March 4: The Kings announced today that Wright has been reassigned to Ontario and Moverare has been reinstated from the non-roster list. Wright posted zeroes across the board in his NHL debut on Monday, skating 9:42 of ice time.
March 2: The Kings announced a series of roster moves today as a response to lingering injury issues, with team reporter Zach Dooley writing that multiple players on the roster are “questionable” for tonight’s game.
The Kings recalled Angus Booth and Jared Wright, placing winger Joel Armia on IR and designating Jacob Moverare as non-roster playing status. Both Wright and Booth have yet to make their NHL debut to this point in their young pro careers.
The biggest name involved in today’s transactions is Armia, who is dealing with an upper-body injury. According to Dooley, he had an MRI today, but the only indication of the extent of his injury has been this transaction. The 32-year-old is a veteran of nearly 650 NHL games, and has been a quality bottom-six defensive forward for many years. He scored 11 goals and 29 points last season with the Montreal Canadiens before signing in Los Angeles as a free agent. His 10 goals and 20 points are right in line with the scoring paces he managed in the most productive years of his career.
Armia’s on-ice value has always been about more than offense – he’s long been a reliable penalty-killer, someone a team can count on to play a significant role in any short-handed operation. This season, he ranks No. 4 among Kings forwards in short-handed time on ice per game (1:35). As a member of the Canadiens, Armia formed a formidable penalty-killing duo with center Jake Evans, ranking No. 2 among team forwards in penalty killing ice time per game in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
As a result of his IR placement today, he’s guaranteed to miss at least the team’s next few games. His full return timeline is currently unclear, throwing into question whether he’ll be able to play against his former team when the Canadiens visit Los Angeles on March 7. Armia’s direct roster replacement is Wright, who also stands 6’3″.
As previously mentioned, Wright hasn’t yet made his NHL debut, but the former Denver Pioneer is a leading penalty killer amongst Ontario forwards. Because he is playing a similar role to Armia at the AHL level, it’s possible the Kings opt for Wright to make his NHL debut on this recall, perhaps hoping his addition can provide on-ice stylistic continuity while Armia is sidelined.
On defense, Booth has been recalled to replace Moverare, who has been designated as non-roster status. Moverare has been a frequent healthy scratch this season, and when he does dress for games, has averaged just 8:45 time on ice per game. The 27-year-old Swede is a pending UFA and has gotten into just 15 NHL games this season despite spending its entirety in the NHL.
Booth, 21, is still waiting on the chance to make his NHL debut. Given Moverare is the team’s seventh defenseman, he may not get his chance at this point. Drew Doughty is out for tonight’s game, but Booth isn’t a player who fits as a Doughty replacement. With that said, it might not take too long for Booth to get his first NHL game. He’s is a top-four defenseman and steady penalty killer for the Reign, and the rate at which he’s earned recalls in recent weeks suggests he’s getting closer to being considered NHL-ready.
With Moverare’s deal expiring this upcoming summer, Booth may be a player to look out for as a candidate to seize an NHL role going forward – a projection that would grow all the more confident if he can get into some NHL games down the stretch.
Kings Recall Andre Lee, Taylor Ward
The Kings added forwards Andre Lee and Taylor Ward to the roster on recall from AHL Ontario, per a team announcement. Winger Corey Perry was placed on the non-roster list in a corresponding move as he deals with the illness of a family member, according to Dennis Bernstein of The Fourth Period.
Lee’s and Ward’s presence comes after Anže Kopitar and Joel Armia both left the Kings’ Monday game against the Wild with lower-body and upper-body injuries, respectively. They’re both day-to-day and won’t play tonight, per Bernstein, but the fact they haven’t been placed on injured reserve is a good sign for their availability on Friday against the Jets.
Lee, 25, comes up for the first time this season after getting a taste of NHL hockey last year. A seventh-round pick back in 2019, the 6’4″ winger is enjoying an offensive breakout in Ontario. After never recording more than 20 points in a season, he’s already hit 27 in just 32 games and leads the team with 15 goals.
The UMass-Lowell alum suited up 19 times for L.A. last season, recording a goal and three points with a -5 rating. He wasn’t used on special teams and was bound to fourth-line minutes at 5-on-5, averaging 9:10 per game. Despite that, he finished fourth on the team with 1.89 hits per game and averaged nearly a shot per night. However, despite receiving the most sheltered offensive zone usage of any Kings forward, his 51.2% share of shot attempts ranked near the bottom among L.A. skaters.
The Kings are hoping Lee’s possession game has improved as he steps back into the lineup tonight against the Sharks. He’ll also get a taste of shorthanded action as he’s expected to factor in on the team’s second penalty kill unit, per John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor.
Ward will also be entering the lineup for just his second NHL appearance. The 27-year-old debuted in the final game of the regular season last year, scoring the Kings’ lone goal in a 5-1 loss to the Flames. A 6’2″ winger, he’s also enjoying the best offensive season of his pro career with 12 goals and 21 points in 32 games for Ontario.
The son of one-time King Dixon Ward, he’s in his fourth professional season after signing with L.A. as a free agent out of the University of Nebraska-Omaha in 2022. While in school, he averaged 0.88 points per game for the Mavericks.
Snapshots: Marchand, Kings, Fleury, Flyers
Speaking with reporters this morning including Chris Johnston of TSN and The Athletic (Twitter link), Panthers winger Brad Marchand stated that had he not re-signed with Florida before free agency started, the Maple Leafs were the other team he was considering signing with. Johnston went on to add in a piece for The Athletic (subscription link) that Toronto is believed to have passed up on a chance to acquire someone in June to ensure they’d have the cap space to try to sign the 37-year-old. While there was an expectation that Florida couldn’t afford to keep him, he ultimately re-signed on a six-year, $31.5MM pact. Marchand, who exited tonight’s game in Toronto early, had a very strong first half of the season, picking up 23 goals and 23 assists in 40 games, putting him on pace for more than 90 points, a mark he has only reached once.
Elsewhere around the NHL:
- Kings center Anze Kopitar (lower body) and winger Joel Armia (upper body) are listed as day-to-day, per Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider (Twitter link). The injuries were sustained in Monday’s game against Minnesota. Kopitar has 21 points in 37 games in his final season while Armia has 16 points in 41 outings in his first season with them after coming over from Montreal in free agency. If one of them can’t play on Wednesday against San Jose, they do have an open roster spot available.
- The Jets announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Haydn Fleury was transported to hospital by ambulance following a hit from Vegas winger Keegan Kolesar. He was fully alert and moving his extremities at the time. The team is expected to provide a further update when more information becomes available.
- Despite a strong night on the scoreboard, it was a tough night on the injury front for the Flyers. The team announced (Twitter links) that winger Bobby Brink (upper body) and defenseman Jamie Drysdale left with injuries and did not return. Brink was injured on a hit from Jansen Harkins while Drysdale was injured by Ross Johnston, who was ejected for his hit on the play. There were no updates on either player after the game.
West Notes: Kaprizov, Armia, Sharks
The future of Kirill Kaprizov with the Wild beyond this season has garnered plenty of attention with the winger now extension-eligible. But nearly two months into that eligibility, no agreement has come to fruition just yet. Speaking in a recent KFAN appearance (Twitter link), GM Bill Guerin seemed confident that a deal eventually will get done:
We’ve been talking all summer. Things are good. Things are in a good spot. I’m comfortable with where everything is. I’m confident. Kirill loves Minnesota. I know he loves Minnesota. I know he believes in the team. These things just take time.
When healthy, Kaprizov has been one of the top-scoring wingers in the NHL. He’s reached the 40-goal mark three times in his five-year career and was producing at a 50-goal pace last year before he ultimately missed half the season due to injuries. The Wild’s top priority this summer was trying to get a new deal in place for him, we’ll see soon enough if they’re able to get something across the finish line with training camps now just a few weeks away.
More from the Western Conference:
- As part of their July 1st spending spree, the Kings added winger Joel Armia on a two-year, $5MM contract. Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider wonders if the 32-year-old might wind up as their best value signing. It’s expected that he’ll line up on the fourth line at even strength which means his playing time and production might drop from a year ago (14:18 and 29 points) but his ability to kill penalties should take some of the pressure off their top-line penalty killers from a year ago, freeing them up to focus a bit more on their offense.
- Earlier this month, the Sharks and the City of San Jose reached a tentative agreement on a plan that would see their arena undergo a seven-year upgrade with the team committing to stay through 2050-51, pending ratification from City Council. Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News relays that the approval was made official earlier this week, ensuring that the team won’t be going anywhere for a long time.
Kings Sign Corey Perry, Joel Armia
The Kings are signing winger Corey Perry, TSN’s Bob McKenzie said on the network’s TV coverage of free agency today. It’s a one-year, bonus-laden contract for the 40-year-old, per McKenzie. Furthermore, Frank Seravalli adds that the Kings are also expected to sign Joel Armia. It’s a two-year deal for him, per Pierre LeBrun of TSN and The Athletic. LeBrun adds it’s a $2.5MM cap hit for Armia. The team confirmed both deals and a $2MM cap hit for Perry with an additional $2MM in potential performance bonuses.
This news will be headlined by Perry’s journey to yet another Pacific Division team. He was a legendary feature of the early-2000s Anaheim Ducks, even joining the squad on their run to the 2007 Stanley Cup. Perry was the gut punch backing Ryan Getzlaf‘s jab – a role he filled for 14 seasons behind the Ducks captain. Perry recorded multiple impressive seasons across that span, routinely rivaling north of 30 goals and nearly 100 penalty minutes even through challenges with injury.
His career year stands proudly as the 2010-11 campaign, when he amassed 50 goals and 98 points, to go along with a staggering 104 penalty minutes. Perry led the NHL in goals, ranked fifth in total points, and was one of 43 players to record over 100 penalty minutes. He also led the league in even-strength goals, with 32. That red-hot season was enough to earn Perry the Hart Trophy as league MVP and the Rocket Richard Trophy as top scorer. It was one of many dominant seasons that led him to 372 goals, 776 points, and 1,110 penalty minutes over the course of 988 games in Anaheim. He remains the club’s all-time leader in penalty minutes, and top-three in all-time goals and points.
But while Perry will long be remembered for his time in Anaheim, he’s blazed an impressive career since leaving the club in the 2019-20 season, at the age of 34. That year kicked off a string of short-term stops across the league, including one year in Dallas, Montreal, and Chicago, as well as two years in Tampa Bay. He was never able to rediscover his flashy mix of goals and penalty minutes. He instead leaned heavily on the grinder role, even amassing 95 penalty minutes in 81 games of the 2021-22 season with the Lightning.
Perry seemed set on filling a stout, bottom-end role through the remainder of his career, until an unexpected split with the Blackhawks opened the door for him to join the Edmonton Oilers partway through the 2023-24 campaign. He finished that season with fairly quiet totals – 13 points in 38 games with the Oilers – but found a much stronger stride back to offense this season. Perry finished the year with 19 goals and 30 points in 81 games. He finished the year ranked fifth on the team in goals and eighth in points. He then climbed to fifth on the team in scoring during the 2025 playoffs, where he filled a pivotal role en route to 10 goals and 14 points in 22 games.
Perry will enter the 2025-26 season at 40 years old. He’s shown a persistent ability to contribute to the lineup and showed no signs of slowing down in Edmonton’s recent run to a Cup Final elimination. Even then, he doesn’t seem to be an assured bet for more than lofty penalty minutes and a third-line role. His grit could be exactly what the Kings need behind a skilled top-six.
The same can be said for Armia, who joins the team as a stout bet for bottom-six center after filling that role for the last seven years in Montreal. Armia challenged his career-high in scoring this year, with 11 goals and 29 points in 81 games, falling just shy of the 30 points in 58 games he managed in 2019-20. He added to his stat line this season a comfortable minus-two and only 16 penalty minutes. Armia stands at an imposing 6-foot-3, 216 pounds, but his 87 hits this season didn’t rank in even the top-1o of Canadiens players. Instead, Armia earned his keep through fluid plays and a drive into the low slot on both ends of the ice. He’s a diligent forward who has amassed 586 career appearances across 11 years in the NHL. He’s scored 103 goals and 207 points in those appearances. That should be hardy enough to command a bottom-end role, likely rotating through the third and fourth line, in the Kings’ system.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports.
Canadiens Notes: Hutson, Laine, Free Agents, Dach
Lane Hutson put up historic numbers in his rookie season, and the Canadiens will look to capitalize on that by discussing a long-term extension as he enters the final season of his entry-level contract, general manager Kent Hughes said today (writes Marco D’Amico of RG). He’s not eligible to put pen to paper on a deal until July 1, but doing so immediately would prevent Hutson from a potentially testy ride through restricted free agency in 2026 and allow the Habs to achieve long-term cost certainty before he potentially increases his value in his sophomore campaign.
Hutson’s likely Calder-winning campaign needs no introduction. The 5’9″ defenseman exploded for 66 points in all 82 regular-season games, tying Lightning star Victor Hedman for sixth in the league in scoring among rearguards and leading all rookies in scoring. Not only does that make him the highest-scoring rookie defenseman in Montreal’s 107-year NHL history, but his 60 assists also tied Larry Murphy for most by a first-year blue liner.
Regardless of when they reach an extension, it’s a foregone conclusion they won’t be able to keep him under the internal salary hierarchy they stuck to when negotiating star winger Cole Caufield‘s eight-year extension two summers ago. They’ve yet to sign a deal eclipsing captain Nick Suzuki‘s $7.875MM cap hit since he signed that deal in 2021. Patrik Laine is technically the team’s highest-paid player at an $8.7MM cap hit, but they acquired that contract via trade. After seeing youngsters like Flames winger Matthew Coronato land a long-term deal at $6.5MM annually, Hughes will almost certainly have to go into the $8-9MM range on a new deal for Hutson.
There’s more on the Canadiens:
- While it wasn’t a glowing end to the season for Laine, Hughes credits his impact earlier in the year as instrumental in Montreal’s postseason berth (per D’Amico). The 27-year-old managed 20 goals and 33 points in 52 games after a quicker-than-expected return from a preseason knee injury, but 75% of his goals and 63% of his points came on the power play. His 5-on-5 possession numbers were among the worst on the club with a 43.0 CF% and led to diminished usage in Games 1 and 2 of their first-round series against the Capitals before a broken finger sidelined him for the final three games of their season.
- Hughes hasn’t made a decision either way on whether to pursue contract extensions with the team’s slate of pending unrestricted free agents, notes D’Amico. Luckily for him, he doesn’t have many of those decisions to make. One has already been made for him on defenseman David Savard, who announced his retirement. The comprehensive list of others includes NHL-rostered forwards Joel Armia, Christian Dvorak, and Michael Pezzetta; minor-league centers Alex Barré-Boulet and Brandon Gignac; and depth netminder Connor Hughes.
- The Canadiens “haven’t given up” on 24-year-old center Kirby Dach after a second major procedure on his right knee in as many years, D’Amico writes. Nonetheless, he relays executive vice president Jeff Gorton “didn’t look overly confident” when discussing Dach and notes he’ll need an eye-opening training camp to regain a top-six role. After playing just twice in the 2023-24 campaign, Dach’s performance wasn’t pretty in 2024-25 before the knee injury ended his campaign in February. He scored 22 points with a team-worst -29 rating in 57 games.
Canadiens Notes: Armia, Savard, Dvorak, Guhle
In an interview with Pierre LeBrun for The Athletic (subscription link), Canadiens GM Kent Hughes acknowledged that he was initially approaching the trade deadline as if they’d be selling. But the team went on a run after the 4 Nations break, resulting in a change of plan. In doing so, he noted that he started to move the goalposts on his asking price for winger Joel Armia, his most notable pending unrestricted free agent. Hughes admitted that while he wouldn’t say a flat-out no to acquiring teams, he readily stated that it would take a big overpayment to get him. Earlier this month, it was reported that the Canadiens had a second-round pick on the table for Armia but clearly, the adjusted asking price came in higher than that.
More from Montreal:
- Also from that interview, Hughes stated that he went into the deadline not expecting to move center Christian Dvorak or defenseman David Savard. He noted that with mid-round picks being the potential return for each of them, it wasn’t worth doing to add those while weakening their farm team in Laval which has been in a close battle for first in the AHL in recent weeks. Also, with one of the deeper prospect pools in the league and with 21 selections over the next two drafts, there wasn’t as much of a need to add extra picks to the cupboard. Both Dvorak and Savard are slated to be unrestricted free agents this summer and are likely facing pay cuts from their cap charges of $4.45MM and $3.5MM respectively.
- Defenseman Kaiden Guhle took part in today’s morning skate in a non-contact jersey, relays TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie (Twitter link). The 23-year-old is working his way back after suffering a lacerated quad tendon in late January. He’s still likely a little while away from returning to the lineup but if Montreal can hang around the playoff picture a bit longer, they could get a nice boost to their back end for the late push with Guhle being a big part of their top four, logging more than 21 minutes a night before being injured.
Atlantic Notes: Tkachuk, Armia, Baddock
Despite missing the final few minutes of Thursday’s game with a nagging hip issue, Senators winger Brady Tkachuk is expected to play tonight against Toronto, notes Postmedia’s Bruce Garrioch. The 25-year-old suffered an undisclosed lower-body injury at the 4 Nations Face-Off that caused him to miss a couple of games and it wouldn’t be surprising if that is this lingering hip injury that he’s continuing to battle through. Tkachuk hasn’t quite been able to produce at the same level as a year ago that saw him collect 74 points but he still has 27 goals and 25 assists through 63 games this season while once again being one of the more physical players in the league.
Elsewhere in the Atlantic:
- Canadiens winger Joel Armia is expected to return to the lineup tonight against Florida, relays Sportsnet’s Eric Engels (Twitter link). He missed Wednesday’s contest against Seattle due to an upper-body injury sustained the night before in Vancouver. The 31-year-old has 11 goals and 14 assists through 64 games this season while being one of the most utilized forwards shorthanded. If there isn’t another injury among Montreal’s forwards, they will have to either convert Joshua Roy’s recall from an emergency one to a regular recall (counting against their post-deadline limit) or return him to AHL Laval.
- Before yesterday’s AHL trade deadline, the Maple Leafs’ affiliate made a move. Per a release from Chicago’s farm team in Rockford, the Marlies acquired winger Brandon Baddock in exchange for future considerations. The 29-year-old has seven points and 86 penalty minutes in 38 games this season but was often scratched due to the IceHogs having one veteran over the limit. That shouldn’t be the case for Baddock with Toronto, giving him a chance to play more down the stretch. Baddock has one career NHL game under his belt from back in the 2021-22 season.
Post-Deadline Notes: Armia, Ferraro, Blue Jackets, Flames
The Canadiens elected to stand pat at the trade deadline, a small sign of confidence in their group that has gotten back to the edge of the playoff picture since the 4 Nations Face-Off. But in doing so, it appears as if they opted not to make at least one move of some significance as Sportsnet’s Eric Engels reports that they could have landed a second-round pick for winger Joel Armia. The 31-year-old has 11 goals and 14 assists in 63 games this season but also has been one of the most-used players shorthanded while carrying a $3.4MM cap charge (which they may have had to pay down to make the move). Armia is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Other notes from the recently passed trade deadline:
- Sharks defenseman Mario Ferraro had been in trade speculation going all the way back to last season but remained with San Jose through the deadline. Part of the reason for that might have been the asking price as Sheng Peng of San Jose Hockey Now suggests that GM Mike Grier was seeking a first-round pick plus another asset for the 26-year-old. Ferraro has 11 points along with 101 blocks and 136 hits in 65 games while logging over 21 minutes a night and has one year left on his contract that carries a $3.25MM AAV.
- Going back to the start of training camp, Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell had talked openly about being willing to take on a contract or even act as a third-party retainer to add some assets. Neither of those wound up happening. He told Brian Hedger of the Columbus Dispatch that they had a pair of trades lined up on Thursday that would have seen them be a third-party retainer fall through plus another on Friday so it wasn’t for a lack of effort that they weren’t able to utilize any of those retention slots.
- The Flames were hoping to act as a third-party broker heading into the deadline, relays Wes Gilbertson of the Calgary Herald. However, it doesn’t appear that any options were available to Calgary on rental contracts. While they had options to act as a retainer for a contract that ran through next season, Calgary was not willing to take on dead money beyond this year, keeping their salary cap flexibility as much as possible.