The Kings announced that winger Viktor Arvidsson was activated from long-term injured reserve Wednesday. As such, he’s eligible to return to the lineup tonight against the Wild. With $4.46MM remaining in their LTIR salary pool, the Kings have just enough space to activate his $4.25MM cap hit.
Arvidsson, 30, was moved to LTIR on Feb. 24 after a two-day stint on standard IR. The veteran forward’s latest lower-body injury came just four games after making his season debut in mid-February. He had sustained back and lower-body injuries during training camp that cost him the first 50 games of the season. Now ready to go, Arvidsson is expected to slot into a third-line role alongside Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alex Laferriere in his return, not the line with Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore he played on last month.
It’s impossible to glean much from such a small sample – especially since he played just 17 seconds in his most recent outing – but Arvidsson looked like his consistent top-six self with two assists. His possession numbers were strong, posting a 53.6 xGF% with Danault and Moore (per MoneyPuck) and, individually, a similarly strong 58.1 CF% at even strength. He’s coming off the fifth 20-goal season of his career in 2022-23, when he totaled 59 points in 77 games while averaging 17:06 per game in an integral second-line role for Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, injuries have plagued Arvidsson throughout his 10-year career, as he’s only eclipsed the 70-game mark three times. Before last year, when all of his absences were due to illness or personal reasons, Arvidsson missed games due to injury in every season from 2016 to 2021.
Getting Arvidsson back into the fold helps boost the depth of an offense that hasn’t had much punch this year, ranking 19th in the league and second-to-last among teams currently in playoff position. Dubois’ underwhelming showing in the third-line center role (33 points in 68 games) is a major reason for that, although extended ice time with a consistent scoring threat like Arvidsson may boost his numbers down the stretch.
Without Arvidsson for much of the year, the Kings have still managed to ride out a shockingly poor mid-season stretch of play and a coaching change and are holding onto third place in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of the Golden Knights. His play down the stretch will also go a long way toward setting his market value on the UFA market this summer – he’s nearing completion of a seven-year, $29.75MM deal signed with the Predators in 2017 and does not have an extension.
But Wilf made it sound like Arvidsson was permanently disabled by Marchand and Marchand should be removed from the league and history.
@wreckage — Sometimes @Wilf will have a “missed by that much” moment.
Yes, Wilf is the Agent 86 of commenters.
@Jess the trip — And, he might have a shoe phone plan with 5G and unlimited long distance.
I simply stated that what Marchand did to Arvidsson was worthy of a suspension and he wasn’t suspended, And I attributed that to the fact Marchand was about to be honored for his 1000th career game and I believe that’s why the league did not suspend him. The NHL didn’t think it would look good if he was being celebrated for his milestone by standing on the ice with his family in street clothes on his big night. I enjoy watching Marchand but the fix was clearly on in this instance.
The fix wasn’t clearly in Wilf. You conjured up the fix in the dark recesses of that amusing cranium of yours. That hit went away with pretty much zero commentary from players, announcers, talking heads, coaches, or media members. Other than you beating the already-dead horse, it seemed to be a non-issue, so apparently this imaginary fix was not in. That said, kudos to you for keeping it alive as long as you have. If there is one area in which you dominate, it is rambling aimlessly and incessantly instead of taking the L.
Hope Arvy can stay healthy throughout the playoffs and make a difference!