Veteran defenseman Kyle Burroughs has yet to play this season due to an upper-body injury sustained in the preseason. It appears he is now ready to return but he won’t be suiting up for the Kings as Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports (Twitter link) that Los Angeles has placed the blueliner on waivers.
The 30-year-old is in his second season with the Kings who acquired him a little more than 14 months ago in exchange for winger Carl Grundstrom. The move gave Los Angeles some extra defensive depth and grit on the heels of Burroughs’ best showing, a 2023-24 campaign that saw him play in 73 games where he recorded eight points, 134 blocks, and 233 hits while averaging over 19 minutes a night of playing time.
However, his first season with the Kings didn’t go anywhere near as well. Burroughs often found himself on the outside looking in when it came to a place in the lineup and when he was dressed for a game, his role was much different. Head coach Jim Hiller used Burroughs rather sparingly as his playing time was below eight minutes a night, making it hard for him to have the type of impact he had with San Jose. In 33 outings, he had three assists, 14 blocks, and 42 hits.
With Burroughs cleared to come back and Los Angeles not having an open roster spot available, the Kings had a choice. They could either send someone down (Brandt Clarke is the only waiver-exempt player so a different player would have needed to be waived) or try to send Burroughs down instead and clearly, they chose the latter route.
Burroughs is in the final season of a three-year, $3.3MM contract signed back in 2023 with the Sharks. A $1.1MM price tag for an experienced blueliner with 201 appearances at the NHL level isn’t overly high so if there’s a team looking for some experienced depth, it’s possible that a team places a claim by Sunday’s 1 PM CT deadline. If that doesn’t happen, the veteran will be on his way to AHL Ontario for what would be his first taste of minor league action since the 2020-21 campaign. His entire cap hit would be cleared off the books if that happens.