The Kings will have have a new injection of Eastern European blood when they take the ice on Wednesday night against the visiting Anaheim Ducks.
Two of LA’s top prospects were recalled today – forward Andrei Loktionov and defenseman Slava Voynov. Both were born in Russia and drafted by the Kings in the 2008 NHL Draft.
Although they’ve played the last few seasons together in Manchester, New Hampshire for the Kings’ top minor league affiliate, they were born about 1,000 miles apart in their native land. Loktionov hails from Voskresensk, a city not far from Moscow, while Voynov is originally from Chelyabinsk – which is further east on a map.
Voynov held down the fort while Drew Doughty was negotiating a new contract with the Kings during training camp and was the last player cut before opening night rosters were submitted to the NHL.
Then, after Doughty was injured in the fourth game of the season, Voynov was recalled and played the next five games with the team – picking up two goals and an assist. He also scored a goal in his last game with the Monarchs this past Saturday. It was his third goal and fourth point in the AHL this year.
Meanwhile, Loktionov arrives as the Monarchs leading point producer, posting three goals and 11 assists in 17 games played. However, he hadn’t scored in several weeks there. Then again, like LA, Manchester has been struggling to generate offense this season – overall, they’ve give up 45 goals, two more than they they’ve scored against their AHL opponents.
In 20 career NHL games over the last two seasons, Loktionov has seven points (four goals, three assists). Although he’s a natural center, he played some wing for the team last year – and he wasn’t happy with his performance. During training camp in September, both he and Murray talked about that experiment here.
Still, given the fact the Kings are down two left wings right now (due to injuries to Dustin Penner and Scott Parse), Loktionov practiced on the left side of Mike Richards and Dustin Brown today.
He’ll most likely start Wednesday’s game in that spot.
Over on defense, the team placed Alec Martinez on the injured reserve list (retroactive to November 12) today, making room for the Voynov recall.
More notes and quotes on both players will be posted in the morning, including live comments from the team’s practice, scheduled for 10:30 am.
In the meantime, be sure to read one of the related articles linked below.
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