The LA Kings are off to St. Louis and they leave with a full plane.
Included in the traveling party is the quartet of Anze Kopitar, Darcy Kuemper, Corey Perry and Kyle Burroughs, all of whom will be on the bird today as the Kings begin a five-game roadtrip tomorrow evening against the Blues.
The reinforcements might not be there for tomorrow’s game, but they are naturally welcomed for a Kings team that has not started the season the way they had hoped. Kopitar and Kuemper were naturally key pieces to last season’s club and the Kings are 0-1-1 in the two games they’ve missed, while Burroughs has not featured at all this season. Perry was a signing the Kings were eager to make over the summer and they have yet to see how he integrates into the group.
The timelines for all three have been different.
Both Kopitar and Kuemper were banged up during the 4-3 shootout loss in Minnesota, though both players finished the game and played key roles in coming from three goals down to collect a point.
Kopitar, who suffered a foot injury when Adrian Kempe’s cross-ice pass caught him in a bit of friendly fire, just got back on the ice individually, which is a great sign. He’s on a week-to-week timeline here but he’s already missed a week, dating back to the Minnesota game itself. If he’s on the trip, there’s a chance he plays, especially when you consider that the Kings only have one practice day scheduled on this trip, which will be on Wednesday in Dallas. So, while the week-to-week timeline is a bit scarier than day-to-day, Kopitar being on this trip is positive and trends towards week meaning maybe 1-2 weeks, not 6-8. If he wasn’t in contention to play on this trip, there’d be no reason to bring him along.
Kuemper also picked up a lower-body injury in that game against Minnesota. After the Wild scored three power-play goals in the first period, Kuemper stopped all 12 shots he faced in the final 45 minutes, which allowed the Kings the opportunity to come back in the game. Kuemper did not dress for the games against Pittsburgh and Carolina and today, he practiced with the full team for the first time today after he was on the ice a couple of times previously working with other injured players or scratched players, including on Saturday before the Carolina game. That’s a good sign.
Kuemper dealt with smaller injuries a couple of times last season and came through just fine. Pheonix Copley is also coming on the trip, so the Kings will at least start with three goaltenders. So, we might not see Kuemper on Tuesday. But like Kopitar, it’s a good sign that he’s traveling, especially when you consider the lack of practice time. He’ll be with goaltending coach Mike Buckley, which is great for the 1-on-1 work, and with a day-to-day timeline, this was never thought to be long term.
On Perry, we’re officially approaching six weeks here since he had successful knee surgery in September. Perry has yet to actually play a game of any kind with the Kings. During one of the final captain’s skates over the summer, Perry suffered a knee injury that has kept him out until this point, with a 6-8 week timeline originally set for his return to action. This here is Week 6, so if Perry plays this week, he would be at the front-end of his recovery timeline, if not slightly ahead of schedule.
It’s been nice to see Perry get back on the ice with the full group over the last week or so and he practiced in full again today. Perry had been skating on his own since early-October and last week, he re-integrated into the full group, first in a non-contact red jersey and then as a full-contact participant. He worked today with the fourth line during rushes and the top power-play unit at the netfront position, where he’s made his home over the years. Jim Hiller said last week that if Perry were to travel, there would be a chance he would play, meaning the Kings wouldn’t bring him just to bring him. So, his presence means there’s a decent chance he can go at some point. He would certainly be a welcomed addition for the Kings when that time comes.
On Burroughs, he is still skating in a non-contact jersey and was with the group in that capacity today. Burroughs blocked a shot during the exhibition win over Utah in the game played in Boise, Idaho and was placed on IR shortly thereafter. Burroughs has been with the group in a non-contact red jersey a few times now, including today’s practice. The fact that he is traveling with the team is good, but having yet to practice in a full-contact means he’s not quite there just yet.
So that’s 25 players traveling to St. Louis, which is two too many when everyone is healthy.
The easy move would be to place Copley on waivers once Kuemper is ready to go, which brings you down to 24. Right now, the Kings don’t have roster issues, with Perry and Burroughs on injured reserve. With Perry getting close, the Copley move would get the Kings back to 23, with two goaltenders, seven defensemen and 14 forwards. Burroughs traveling is the more interesting one, because it means that someone would either need to moved to injured reserve if he’s ready, or assigned to the AHL.
That player could be Burroughs himself or it could also be another player towards the bottom of the roster. That’s down the road, though. Burroughs isn’t quote ready and even if he is, I don’t expect a his activation to come tomorrow. But he is back and he is traveling with the team, along with the other three.
Off to St. Louis now, as the Kings begin what is a more important trip than it might’ve seemed a few weeks ago. At 1-3-2, the Kings now face a five-game trip, starting against two playoff teams from last season, in two buildings that the Kings have struggled in over the last couple of years. Important ones ahead, for sure.