Pacific Notes: Arvidsson, Fagemo, Duclair, Karlsson, Lyubushkin

The Kings have been without a key winger all season as Viktor Arvidsson works his way back from a back injury sustained during training camp.  It appears they’ll be without the 30-year-old for a while yet as Helene Elliott of the Los Angeles Times notes that while Arvidsson has started skating on his own, he’s still two or three weeks away from rejoining the team for practice; it would obviously be longer than that before he’d be good to return.  Arvidsson, who had one of his best years last season with 26 goals and 59 points, is currently on LTIR, giving Los Angeles ample room to carry a full-sized roster.  They’ll have to get cap-compliant when the time comes to activate him which could come not long before the March 8th trade deadline.

Elsewhere in the Pacific Division:

• Still with Los Angeles, they have returned winger Samuel Fagemo to AHL Ontario, per the AHL’s transactions log. The 23-year-old has been up and down a couple of times now this week, getting into one game with the Kings during that time.  Since being claimed back off waivers in November, Fagemo has been quite productive with the Reign, notching 20 goals in just 24 games.
• Pending unrestricted free agent winger Anthony Duclair has not yet had any discussions about a contract extension with the Sharks, reports Curtis Pashelka of The Mercury News. The 28-year-old has eight goals and eight assists in 41 games so far but has also been scratched as of late.  Duclair, who represents himself, said that he expects to sit down at some point with GM Mike Grier to discuss a new deal.  He’s currently making $3MM and with a 31-goal season under his belt on this contract back in 2021-22, he’s likely going to be looking for at least a small raise on that contract.
• After being recalled late Friday, Canucks forward Linus Karlsson has been returned to AHL Abbotsford, per a team announcement (Twitter link). The 24-year-old has played in four games with Vancouver over his four recalls and is still looking for his first NHL point.  Karlsson has been productive in the minors though, collecting 25 points in 27 games so far.
• The Ducks announced (Twitter link) that defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin was scratched for their game tonight against the Rangers due to an upper-body injury. The 29-year-old has been a regular on Anaheim’s third pairing all season long, logging over 17 minutes a night in 45 games.  While the pending UFA only has four assists, he also has contributed 117 blocked shots and 71 hits and is likely to attract some interest from playoff-bound squads looking to toughen up the back end of their defense corps in the coming weeks.