The Los Angeles Kings are entering a crucial point of the season where every point is huge and every win is a step closer. With the trade deadline around the corner, The Kings may be buyers based on their injured list. The list contains some important pieces and create a hole in the lineup.
Kings hope to have a full roster for playoffs
The Kings has lost four names to injury, not including Adrian Kempe who was injured the other night and may join this list, all of them filling important roles when they play. Goaltender Pheonix Copley has been out since December 15, 2023, with a torn ACL and will miss the rest of the regular season. Forward Carl Grundstrom has been out since February 13, 2024 with a lower-body injury and was placed on injured reserve. Forward Viktor Arvidsson is once again on the injured list as of February 20, 2024, with a lower-body injury. Defenseman Mikey Anderson was placed on injured reserve on February 24, 2024, and is week-to-week with an upper-body injury.
With those four players being lost for the time being, forwards Jaret Anderson-Dolan and Alex Turcotte, along with defenseman Jacob Moverare have all been called up from the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League (AHL) to fill those spots.
Los Angeles is 6-3 under new Head Coach Jim Hiller and may have to continue their ride to the playoffs with the roster as is as the Kings do not have much cap space to speak of. With leadership and work ethic, they cannot be counted out as the playoffs near. However, the Kings have a bit of a hill to climb as they are in fourth place in the Pacific Division after back-to-back losses to the Edmonton Oilers and Calgary Flames. Los Angeles has 68 points on a 29-19-10 record.
The Kings roster suffers a bit with the losses as the depth could be faced with a big challenge in the coming weeks. Anderson-Dolan, Turcotte, and Moverare do have NHL experience but they are still young and have big shoes to fill. Los Angeles only has a month left in the season to figure things out and there are massive points left out there. With 25 games left to play, they play the Vancouver Canucks four times, and the Calgary Flames and Edmonton Oilers once each. That is 12 huge points left inside the division.
This last month is also critical for Hiller, who is coaching for the full-time Kings coaching job behind the bench. He remains an intern coach as Los Angeles management closely monitors how he responds to games won and lost, and also how the Kings fare in the standings when the season is over. If the team progresses and makes a deep run, then I think he comes back. However, if the Kings fail to grab a playoff spot or lose in the first round again, we could be looking at a new coach to start the 2024-25 season.
(photo: latimes.com; Helene Elliott (photo: lakingsinsider.com; Jack Jablonski)
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