Busy day on the roster front.
For starters, Head Coach Jim Hiller said after today’s practice that forward Anze Kopitar and goaltender Darcy Kuemper are both day-to-day with lower-body injuries. From Hiller’s comments throughout his availability today, sounds like Kopitar is a game-time decision for tomorrow against the Penguins. Hiller indicated that the Kings have not gone down the road yet of how the lineup might look without Kopitar, indicating that the Kings are “hopeful there’s a chance he could play” and that the Kings will likely find out tomorrow around game time. So, with that still in play, nothing to share just yet on how a potential missed game would impact the lineup.
With Kuemper, it sounds as if Anton Forsberg could get the net tomorrow, although coming off consecutive starts for Kuemper, that might’ve been the plan either way. More to come on Forsberg tomorrow, in the game preview, but in chatting with him briefly after today’s practice, he understands this is an opportunity for him to show what he can do, while also expressing that the circumstances are not how he’d want them. Hiller pointed to Forsberg’s experience, agreeing that it’s not under ideal circumstances, but he believes Forsberg will be ready when called upon.
So, will have to wait until tomorrow for sure. Both players haven’t been officially ruled out, but I’d bank more on Kopitar playing than Kuemper based on Hiller’s availability today.
If Kuemper is unable to go, backing Forsberg up will likely be Pheonix Copley, who was reacquired today from the Tampa Bay Lightning for future considerations.
The timing kind of worked here, didn’t it? When Tampa Bay had an injury in net earlier this month, the Lightning claimed Copley off waivers, when the Kings hoped to loan him to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. With Kuemper’s short-term injury, it opened the door for the Kings to need a backup goaltender. Erik Portillo was recalled this morning from the Ontario Reign and practiced with the Kings today, but after the Copley trade, he was re-assigned to the Reign. While Portillo is more than capable of the opportunity, he does not need waivers to be assigned to the AHL so it makes more sense to have Copley on the NHL roster right now, especially considering Kuemper’s short-term injury during a time when the schedule is light on games. Should Copley have been placed on waivers by Tampa Bay, and no team claimed him, the Kings could have placed a claim to get Copley back and assign him to the AHL. Simply trading for Copley and keeping him on the NHL roster eliminated the risk in that process.
With the day-to-day timelines, we’re taking things, well, day-by-day. The Kings have an open spot on their NHL roster and can carry three goaltenders without placing Kuemper on injured reserve. Should that become necessary, they could potentially move Kuemper to IR if needed with a retroactive designation, depending on the exact timeline of the injury. A player going on IR means a minimum of seven days out of the lineup, which would mean that if he were to be placed on IR, Kuemper would miss the games against Pittsburgh and Carolina for sure, if it was retroactive to Monday’s game. For now, that move has not happened, but it is an option if needed over the next few days.
So, TLDR, Kopitar and Kuemper day-to-day, lower body injuries. Copley acquired from Tampa Bay. Portillo recalled and then reassigned. Kings have 23 on their active roster as of today.
On that front, though, there was a player on the ice today who is not on the active roster and that’s Corey Perry!
For the first time since knee surgery in September, Perry participated in a full-team practice. Perry has been skating on his own for 10 days now and today, he progressed to a full-team practice in a red, non-contact jersey. Great signs to see him back on the ice.
“No specific timeline, but great to see him out there today,” Hiller said of Perry. “He’s been chomping at the bit, so he was ready. He obviously took some line rushes, kept him out of contact, but a really good day for him and let’s just see where it goes.”
Hiller said that as of now, no decisions have been made as to whether or not Perry would travel with the team next week to begin a five-game trip. He also said that there’s not a specific target number he has in mind, more generally speaking, for a player in terms of practices hit before he’s able to play. It’s dependent, person by person, on the type of injury, the length of the absence, the lineup as it’s currently assembled. So, it’s not just practice three times and you’ll play or anything like that. Lots of factors that go into it. Perry is currently about four and a half weeks removed from a 6-8 week timetable, so he’s still probably not all the way there. The Kings are getting good minutes from their fourth line right now as well, so there’s no need to rush him back.
Still, today was very positive for Perry, for sure, and for his teammates as well. Warren Foegele played with Perry in Edmonton and was really happy to see him back on the ice.
“It’s awesome, he’s such a smart player, lots of leadership he brings, experience, he’s a great teammate, it’s good to see him back out there,” Foegele said of Perry. “We miss him but we know he’s almost on his way back.”
That’s about the size of it. Lots of updates from today, Insiders.
Hoping for short-term situations with Kopitar and Kuemper, for sure. Keep an eye out tomorrow on morning skate to see if Kopitar is on the ice. He’s typically a regular in the morning on gamedays that are not back-to-back, though he could opt to rest up for tomorrow evening as well. Could be a true gametime decision there to keep an eye on. Same goes for Kuemper’s status. Will follow up tomorrow morning with updates as they surface!