Andreas Athanasiou

It’s been almost three weeks since Andreas Athanasiou suited up for an NHL game, but that is about to change. The Los Angeles Kings have activated the speedy forward from the non-roster/COVID-19 protocol and announced he is available for tonight’s game against the Dallas Stars.

Athanasiou, 27, has played in just eight games this season after missing all of October with an injury. He has five points in those games and looked ready to build on the solid season he had for Los Angeles in 2020-21, when he had 10 goals and 23 points in 47 games. While those numbers don’t jump off the page, it was a good way to build back some of his value after the disappearing act he pulled in Edmonton.

Acquired at the 2020 deadline for two second-round draft picks, Athanasiou would register just two points in nine regular season games for the Oilers, zero in four playoff games and then failed to receive a qualifying offer from the team. He signed a one-year, $1.2MM deal with the Kings just before the 2020-21 season kicked off, and landed new a one-year, $2.7MM deal in July.

Importantly, Athanasiou is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, meaning getting him back up to full speed is important to the Kings on two fronts. First, he should be able to add some more offense to a group that has struggled to score at times, but beyond that, he’ll also be a top trade chip should the team fall out of the playoff race entirely. With the Kings sitting at 10-10-4 after a poor recent stretch, those kinds of decisions have to be creeping into the minds of general manager Rob Blake and his staff.

The Los Angeles Kings will not have Andreas Athanasiou in the lineup when they take on the Toronto Maple Leafs this evening, as he has been placed in the COVID protocol.

Athanasiou, 27, only has eight games under his belt this season and after a hot start–he had five points in his first four–has been held scoreless in four straight. Now the Kings will have to find a way to replace him for at least one game.

The team did not confirm whether or not Athanasiou had actually tested positive for coronavirus, but if he did and is experiencing any symptoms he’ll miss a minimum of ten days. The team had been carrying 14 forwards already, so don’t necessarily need to make a recall in time for tonight’s action.

July 29: The Kings have officially announced the contract for Athanasiou, which will be for one year and $2.7MM. The contract will take him to unrestricted free agency next summer.

July 28: Since he wasn’t tendered a qualifying offer by Edmonton last fall over fears of what an arbitration award would look like, Andreas Athanasiou was a player that wasn’t a guarantee to receive one from the Kings earlier this week.  He ultimately did and now TSN’s Darren Dreger reported (Twitter link) that the two sides were close to finalizing a new one-year deal. David Pagnotta reported that it’s a one-year contract worth $2.7MM.

The 26-year-old had to settle for a one-year, $1.2MM contract with Los Angeles in late December after longer-term offers failed to materialize in unrestricted free agency.  The investment proved to be a wise one for the Kings as Athanasiou finished tied for sixth in team scoring with 10 goals and 13 assists in 47 games; getting someone averaging close to half a point per game at that price tag is a pretty good bargain.

Athanasiou is still only two years removed from a 30-goal season with Detroit, a stat that certainly would have come up had his case gone to salary arbitration.  Accordingly, it’s fair to expect that this new deal will take that into account and that the price tag on this one will be a bit higher than what he made last season.  This contract will take Athanasiou to UFA eligibility next summer so if he’s looking to establish himself as a more viable option than he was last fall, he’ll need a big season in his second year with Los Angeles.