Happy Saturday, Insiders!
The LA Kings have announced the following three roster moves in advance of tonight’s game in Edmonton.
– Forward Corey Perry has been activated from non-roster designation
– Forward Anze Kopitar has been placed on injured reserve
– Forward Cole Guttman has been loaned to the AHL’s Ontario Reign
First, on Perry, this paves the way for him to play tonight against the Oilers after missing the last two games. Perry was away from the team to attend to an illness in his family and, as such, was given a non-roster playing status. He is expected to make his lineup return tonight against Edmonton, the team he played with over the last two seasons. Perry gives the Kings a veteran presence back in the lineup with three regulars out of action and he’s been an impactful member of the power play, especially of late. Perry is second on the team with nine power-play points this season. The Kings have struggled on the man advantage in defeats against San Jose and Winnipeg and that coincided with the games Perry missed due to injury. Would expect to see Perry back in action tonight, likely playing a bit of a larger role at 5-on-5 than we’ve seen this season, alongside top-unit power-play minutes. Unsure on exactly how the lines would shake out but in activating Perry, it should give the Kings some additional flexibility up front, whether that is with 11 forwards or 12.
On Kopitar, this is more procedural than anything else. Kopitar has missed the last two games with a lower-body injury and is currently considered to be day-to-day. He didn’t travel with the team and obviously won’t play tonight. Believe this also rules him out for Monday against Dallas as well but he could return as soon as Wednesday against Vegas based on the seven-day minimum timeline for injured reserve. This move, to me, feels like forward Joel Armia is the closer of the two players to returning, with Armia also out day-to-day, with an upper-body injury, but that’s speculating a bit. Kopitar moving to IR frees up a roster spot here for the Kings and Perry will fill it.
With Guttman, he was really just an insurance policy for this trip and with Perry back, the Kings can return him to the AHL. The Kings only had 18 available skaters on Wednesday against San Jose. Traveling to Canada with only 18 skaters is risky business, so the Kings wanted an extra forward to make 12F and 7D on the trip. That gave the team the flexibility to dress 12 forwards if Jim Hiller wanted to or it meant there was an extra player available in case of any further injuries. The Kings didn’t know when Perry would be ready to return when they left but as he rejoins the team tonight, the need to have an extra forward was no longer there, especially as the Kings return home tonight to play at home on Monday against Dallas. So, the Kings can save a few bucks on the cap by returning Guttman to Ontario while the Reign get a key forward back in advance of their game tomorrow against Bakersfield.
Head Coach Jim Hiller will address the media in Edmonton at 5:45 PM Pacific from Rogers Place in Edmonton. Could be some additional context/clarity provided there and will update this story if that is the case. Live thread to follow!