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Kings Reassign Andre Lee

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Dec. 24: Lee has been returned to Ontario, per a club announcement. He won’t count against the cap during their holiday break. His appearance on Sunday against the Capitals was his first during this recall, recording a shot on goal in 9:13 of ice time.

Dec. 13: The Kings made a roster move on Friday to add a bit more depth up front.  The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Andre Lee from AHL Ontario on an emergency basis.  Mayor’s Manor reports that winger Trevor Moore’s availability for tomorrow’s game against the Rangers is in question, necessitating this move.

The 24-year-old has gotten into 16 games so far this season with Los Angeles in his first taste of NHL action.  That said, his playing time has largely been limited as he’s logging just 9:26 per game.  Offensively, Lee has been limited to recording two assists although he’s also averaging just over two hits per contest.

After spending more than a month on an NHL roster to start the season, Lee was sent down in mid-November but he has been recalled multiple times since then.  As a result, he has only played in four games with the Reign, picking up a goal and an assist after picking up 13 points in 36 games with them last season.

With the recall, the Kings are now at the maximum of 23 players on their active roster.

Kings Request Extension For Arthur Kaliyev’s Conditioning Loan

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The Kings haven’t had winger Arthur Kaliyev’s services at all this season, at least at the NHL level. After an offseason marred by a trade request and a lengthy contract negotiation, the 23-year-old signed a one-year, $825K deal at the beginning of training camp only to sustain a collarbone fracture two days later.

He was cleared to play earlier this month and was subsequently sent to AHL Ontario on a conditioning loan that can only last two weeks. That mark is approaching on Tuesday, although Ontario doesn’t have another game until after Christmas. After the 2019 second-round pick was limited to one assist in four games over the past couple of weeks, the Kings are requesting an extension for him to remain in Ontario for two more contests through the end of this week, John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor reports.

The lack of goals wasn’t for lack of trying, Hoven notes. The Uzbekistan-born winger had four shots on goal in two separate outings. Shooting the puck has never been a problem for Kaliyev, who averages nearly four shot attempts per game since making his NHL debut in 2020-21 despite averaging around 12 minutes per game. But despite strong production for his usage, averaging 15 goals and 31 points per 82 games, he hasn’t been able to ever earn a legitimate chance outside of a bottom-six role. Last season was especially difficult for Kaliyev, who had his worst offensive showing as a full-time NHLer with seven goals and 15 points in 51 games.

Kaliyev has long desired a change of scenery to a club where he has a better chance of earning a top-six role. Unfortunately for him, the lack of production in his brief AHL stint has likely done nothing to drum up trade interest around the league after the Kings failed to land an acceptable offer over the summer.

If he remains in a slump when he returns to the NHL later this month, he may need to wait until the summer and hope for a non-tender from Los Angeles to allow him to test the open market. The Kings retained his rights by issuing him a qualifying offer in June despite reports suggesting they may do otherwise.

Kings Loan Dvorak To Czech WJC Team

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  • After being named to Czechia’s preliminary World Junior roster yesterday, the Kings have loaned defenseman Jakub Dvorak to the national team, per the AHL’s transactions log. Considering that he’s seeing regular action with the Reign, it’s likely that he’s going to make the team so Los Angeles could have tried to see if they could keep him a little longer before loaning him out like Seattle intends to do with winger Eduard Sale but instead, Dvorak will join the Czechs for their full training camp.

Kings Assign Arthur Kaliyev To AHL On Conditioning Loan

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The Kings announced that they’ve assigned winger Arthur Kaliyev to AHL Ontario on a conditioning loan. It will be Kaliyev’s first game action since suffering a fractured clavicle in a preseason practice session.

The 23-year-old’s reassignment comes two months to the day after general manager Rob Blake said Kaliyev would be out of action for six to eight weeks. He’s been back at practice for over a month now but evidently needed a slightly longer recovery window to get back up to game speed.

It was a tough break to start the season for the 2019 second-round pick, who had asked for a trade over the summer. The 6’2″, 210-lb winger was a frequent healthy scratch last season and was limited to 15 points in 51 games while seeing under 12 minutes of ice time per night. A restricted free agent for most of the offseason, he signed a one-year, $825K deal in mid-September to attend training camp with the Kings but sustained the broken collarbone just a few days later.

There’s likely even less of a chance at regular playing time for Kaliyev now on the surging Kings, who have won five in a row and are second in the Pacific Division with a 16-8-3 record. There may, however, be an opportunity for him to challenge someone like enforcer Tanner Jeannot (3-2–5 in 24 GP) for a top-nine role if Los Angeles can’t find a new home for him on the trade market during his stint in Ontario, which will last up to two weeks. He will remain on injured reserve during that time.

Kaliyev last appeared in Ontario during the 2020-21 campaign, his first professional season. He led the team in scoring during the COVID-shortened campaign with 31 points (14 G, 17 A) in 40 appearances.

His showing on the farm over the next couple of weeks will allow the Kings to evaluate whether they still see a future for him within the organization, although a strong run on the farm could also help boost his trade value. Teams are certainly open for business earlier than usual – there have been seven trades over the past couple of weeks, including ones involving youngsters in need of fresh starts like David Jiříček and Philip Tomasino.

Kaliyev, a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at season’s end, has 35 goals and 36 assists for 71 points in 188 career appearances with the team. That’s on pace for 15 goals and 31 points over an 82-game season.

Kings’ Caleb Jones Clears Waivers, Reassigned To AHL

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12/9: The Kings organization confirmed Jones has successfully cleared waivers as the team announced they’ve reassigned him to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

12/8: The Los Angeles Kings have placed defender Caleb Jones on waivers, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Jones was placed on injured reserve on November 15th, after sustaining an upper-body injury in November 13th’s loss to Colorado. He’s missed nine games since, nearly double the five games he’s played in so far this season. Jones hasn’t recorded any scoring thus far. This move will give him a chance to find his health, and scoring, with more minutes in the minor leagues.

Jones played in 12 AHL games last season – scoring six points – but has otherwise been a full-time NHL defender since the 2019-20 season. He’s played with four different clubs in that span, starting his career in 2018-19 with Edmonton. Jones gradually climbed the Oilers’ depth chart, working from the AHL, to a role as a routine call-up, then eventually becoming Edmonton’s seventh defender. He scored 19 points across three seasons and 93 games in Edmonton, all before the age of 23. That was enough promise to make Jones a focal piece in the trade that sent an aged Duncan Keith from the Chicago Blackhawks to the Edmonton Oilers. The Blackhawks continued to rotate Jones through the lineup, awarding him 51 games in 2021-22 and 73 games in 2022-23. He scored 15 and 16 points in the respective seasons, prompting Chicago to leave Jones unsigned in the 2023 off-season. He signed in Carolina, but was traded to Colorado before the start of the 2023-24 season. Jones continued to serve a minor role with the Avalanche, recording five assists in 25 NHL games and six assists in 12 AHL games.

Thomas Activated Off IR

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  • The Kings announced (Twitter link) that they’ve activated forward Akil Thomas off injured reserve. The 24-year-old had missed the last week due to an undisclosed injury.  Thomas has been limited to just ten games so far in his first full NHL season and has a goal and an assist while logging a little more than 11 minutes a night of playing time.  Los Angeles had two open roster spots so no corresponding move was needed to bring Thomas back to the active roster.

Los Angeles Kings Reassign Andre Lee To AHL

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  • Per a team release from the Los Angeles Kings, Andre Lee has been papered down to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. The move is strictly to capture more salary cap space for a Kings organization with limited space. Los Angeles doesn’t play against until Saturday when they take on the Minnesota Wild and the expectation is that Lee will re-join the team for that contest.

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Los Angeles Makes Several Roster Moves

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The Los Angeles Kings will have a different lineup tonight when they take on the Dallas Stars. The Kings organization announced they’ve activated netminder Darcy Kuemper from the team’s injured reserve, placed veteran forward Trevor Lewis on the injured reserve, and loaned goaltender Erik Portillo back to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

It was a relatively long hiatus for Kuemper on Los Angeles’ injured reserve. This was the second time this season that Kuemper landed on injured reserve, the first being from October 14 to October 26. This most recent stretch cost Kuemper seven consecutive games with backup netminder David Rittich being handed the starting role. The veteran netminder has managed a 4-2-3 record in 10 starts for the Kings this season though many of his starting goaltender peers have already recorded 20 or more starts.

Given the organization’s proximity to the salary cap ceiling and without a real need to keep three goaltenders on the roster, it was always likely Portillo would head back to Ontario, CA. He still made his NHL debut on November 29th against the Anaheim Ducks, picking up his first win in a near-flawless effort. Still, he’ll find more consistent playing time with the Reign this year where he’s already managed a 4-2-0 record with a .906 save percentage and 2.68 goals against average.

Similarly to Kuemper, Lewis’ time on the Kings’ injured reserve won’t be brief. The lower-body injury is expected to shelf the veteran forward for the next four to six weeks which will prohibit him from playing in his 1,000th career game for a month or more.

Los Angeles has sufficient forward depth to replace Lewis down the middle on the fourth line. The team will likely deploy prospect Samuel Helenius there for the time being but could like to give those minutes to Arthur Kaliyev once he’s activated from the injured reserve himself.

Los Angeles Kings Recall Three Players

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12/3: According to a team announcement, the Kings organization has recalled all three players back to Los Angeles as expected.

12/2: The Los Angeles Kings are trimming their roster to open up cap space with a three-day break before their next game. The organization announced they’ve reassigned Samuel Helenius, Andre Lee, and Jacob Moverare to their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign.

Lee has the most playing time of the trio with 16 games already under his belt for this season. The 188th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft has tallied two assists on the year while operating in a fourth-line role in Los Angeles. He’s known more for his physicality than his offensive production as Lee ranks sixth on the team in hitting with 34 body checks handed out to opposing teams.

Moverare is the longest-tenured of the group as he’s entered his fifth professional season with the Kings organization. He’s suited up in 52 games for Los Angeles since the start of the 2021-22 NHL season but only has one goal and two assists to show for. The Ostersund, Sweden native has understandably performed much better in the AHL for the Reign scoring 10 goals and 71 points in 163 contests and an assist in three postseason contests.

The final member of the group heading back to the AHL is Helenius who was drafted 59th overall by the Kings in the 2021 NHL Draft and likely has the highest ceiling of the three reassignees. He’s collected two assists in nine games in Los Angeles this season while also scoring two goals and three points in eight games for AHL Ontario.

Los Angeles has four players (Arthur Kaliyev, Akil Thomas, Caleb Jones, and Darcy Kuemper), and an additional player (Drew Doughty) on the team’s long-term injured reserve. There is no indication any of the injured players will be activated before the Kings’ contest against the Dallas Stars on Wednesday night so a few if not all of the trio should be back in Los Angeles in a couple of days.

Kings Recall Andre Lee, Place Akil Thomas On IR

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The Kings called up forward Andre Lee from AHL Ontario under emergency conditions on Friday, per a team announcement. Center Akil Thomas landed on injured reserve in a corresponding transaction to open a roster spot.

Lee, 24, returns to the NHL roster after spending most of the season with the big club. He didn’t quite crack the opening night roster but was recalled just a couple of days later, making his NHL debut and skating in 15 out of 18 contests after his recall.

The 6’5″, 206-lb winger didn’t make much of an impact offensively with two assists, but he did make his mark physically with 32 hits without being a significant drag on the Kings’ possession numbers. L.A. controlled 49.6% of shot attempts and 53.8% of expected goals with Lee on the ice at 5-on-5, perfectly serviceable stats for a fourth-line piece.

Selected in the seventh round in 2019, Lee had one assist and a +1 rating in a pair of appearances for Ontario over the past week and a half, his first pair of the season. The Karlstad, Sweden, native had a career-high eight goals and 13 points in 36 AHL games last season and signed a fresh two-way extension in June to avoid restricted free agency.

Meanwhile, Thomas lands on IR with an undisclosed ailment despite being listed as a healthy scratch for their last outing, a 4-1 win over the Jets. If he was banged up, they could make his placement retroactive to his last appearance on Nov. 25 against the Sharks, which means he’d be eligible to return next Wednesday against the Stars. He’ll miss at least two more games with the injury.

Thomas, 24, has been a frequent healthy scratch this season, only appearing in 10 of the Kings’ 23 games. He has a goal and an assist while averaging 11:07 per game. The 2018 second-round pick is fourth-worst on the team with a 50.0 CF% and has managed 14 shots on goal.

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