Yesterday we posted an article highlighting six players coming to Los Angeles to serve as this year’s Black Aces (a practice squad that NHL teams often use during the post-season). That initial list was comprised of forwards Colin Fraser and Linden Vey, defensemen Andrew Bodnarchuk, Andrew Campbell, and Brayden McNabb, along with goalie J.F. Berube. Now, we can pass along even more information about a second wave of players set to join the group in the days to come.
Defensemen Derek Forbort, Kevin Gravel, and Colin Miller will be arriving in LA shortly; as will forwards Andy Andreoff, Nic Dowd, Michael Mersch, and Scott Sabourin.
Although not confirmed yet, forwards Nick Shore and Jordan Weal will likely also be announced in the coming days. Goaltender Patrik Bartosak is still questionable.
Once more players arrive, it’s very likely the entire group will split off into separate practices – as has been the case in past years. For now though, guys like Bodnarchuk and Campbell skated with the big club this morning.
UPDATED WITH SOME STATS FROM THE 2013-14 SEASON:
Andreoff
Regular season: (11-24=35, 133 PIM in 76 GP for Manchester)
Playoffs: (1-2=3, 2 PIM in 4 GP for Manchester)
Bartosak
Regular season: (33-26-5, 2.80 GAA, .924 spct, 8 SO in 65 GP for Red Deer — WHL), (3-1-0, 1.75 GAA, .941 spct, 1 SO in 4 GP for Manchester)
Forbort
Regular season: (1-16=17, 42 PIM in 74 GP for Manchester)
Playoffs: (0-0=0, 0 PIM in 3 GP for Manchester)
Miller
Regular season: (5-12=17, 35 PIM in 65 GP for Manchester)
Playoffs: (0-0=0, 6 PIM in 3 GP for Manchester)
Sabourin
Regular season: (12-14=26, 115 PIM in 69 GP for Manchester)
Playoffs: (0-0=0, 0 PIM in 4 GP for Manchester)
Shore
Regular season: (14-24=38, 36 PIM in 68 GP for Manchester)
Playoffs: (0-1=1, 0 PIM in 4 GP for Manchester)
Weal
Regular season: (23-47=70, 42 PIM in 76 GP for Manchester)
Playoffs: (0-3=3, 2 PIM in 4 GP for Manchester)
For more on the Kings Top 10 Prospects, see the links below.
5 MUST-READ KINGS PROSPECT ARTICLES:
LA Kings 2014 prospect rankings – the top three
LA Kings 2014 mid-season prospect rankings – top defensemen
LA Kings 2014 mid-season prospect rankings – numbers six through 10
LA Kings 2014 mid-season prospect rankings – honorable mention
2013-14 Monarchs Player Evaluations
David Hofreiter, Mike Murangi and Andy Tonge also contributed comments in the preparation of this article.
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