Two big things happened over the weekend. First, the Kings offense woke up and scored five goals on Saturday night – the third time they’ve hit the nickel mark this season. Then, yesterday, left wing Dustin Penner was placed on the injured reserve list for a hand injury he suffered back in Thursday night’s game vs. the Canucks.
When Scott Parse went down last week, center Colin Fraser was activated.
This time around, they don’t have an extra forward here in LA waiting around. So, expect to see somebody from Manchester (AHL) headed West.
Down two left wings, who could it be?
Here are the likely candidates to select from (in alphabetical order)…
Rich Clune, LW – one of only two players on this list who has NHL experience (played 14 games for the Kings in 2009-10)…is known primarily as an agitator, he plays a high energy game and ironically, any consideration he gets will be in large part be due to two players who left the organization
Ray Kaunisto, LW – one of the rare left wings on this list and the funniest guy from Manchester on twitter…he’ll call out anybody, even his own wife
Dwight King, LW – the other player on the list with NHL experience (six games last year)…he was also the guy the team tried to call up when Jarret Stoll was suspended in the playoffs, but they couldn’t get it done in time…was one of the last players cut in camp this season…has six points in 17 games with Manchester this season
Brandon Kozun, RW – small, speedy, nose for the net, has repeatedly proclaimed he’s ready for the NHL and was a top rookie in the AHL last season…scouts say he’s the real deal
Andrei Loktionov, C – a natural center, a forward coach Terry Murray wants at center and the leading points producer in Manchester (three goals, 11 assists)
Linden Vey, RW – is just a little over a month into his first season as a pro, is also the reigning WHL Scoring Champion and posted more points than any other player in junior hockey last season…currently has seven points with the Monarchs (three goals, four assists) – nearly all of which has come in the last two weeks
Slava Voynov, D – was told by Murray he’s an NHL player when he was sent down after Drew Doughty was ready to return to the line-up…even so, he’s perhaps the least likely person because the Kings have seven defensemen in LA at the moment…however, the offense was better with him in the line-up
Who do you think should be called up?
Poll closes at 6pm PST tonight.
To see the MayorsManor rankings of the Kings’ top ten prospects, click here…or feel free to check out some of the related articles linked below.
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Interview with Linden Vey following his first professional goal – Oct 2011
Rich Clune – ‘Not a lot of guys here will when the scoring title’
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