When writing effective articles, they always tell you, ‘Don’t bury the lede!’
So here goes… We believe the LA Kings will be putting somebody on waivers soon.
For those who follow along closely, this isn’t the hottest take you’ll read this week. However, it is at the very least something rather thought provoking.
Essentially, the Kings have three rosters to manage this season. There’s the 23-man (maximum) NHL roster, a taxi squad, and the AHL.
Things can a get little technical when discussing the taxi squad; yet we’ll keep it rather high-level, as it’s not the heart of the story – nor should the taxi group be all that difficult to understand. For purposes of this discussion, there are two main points regarding taxi. First, it must be 4-6 players and usually contains a goaltender (for the Kings, that’s Troy Grosenick). Second, all regular waiver rules apply to players being sent from the NHL to taxi. For example, the Kings can’t just stash Alex Iafallo on the taxi squad. He would have to go through waivers prior. We’ve said this before, but think of taxi like a second AHL team. It’s that simple.
As of early this morning, the Kings had 23 players on the NHL roster. Two players are also set to return soon, Andreas Athanasiou and Blake Lizotte.
LA Kings Current Roster
Iafallo – Kopitar – Brown
Kempe – Vilardi – Carter
Moore – Anderson-Dolan – Grundstrom
Wagner – Andersson – Luff
Amadio
Frk
Anderson – Doughty
Bjornfot – Roy
Maatta – Strand
MacDermid
Quick
Petersen
Additionally, Sean Walker is on Long Term Injured Reserve (more on that in a moment).
While the taxi squad, as of Tuesday night, was Drake Rymsha, Boko Imama, Kale Clague, and Troy Grosenick.
Defensemen
Some have asked, ‘Why didn’t Clague play on Tuesday night vs. Minnesota?’
In short, there are three reasons. First, and perhaps most importantly, with Matt Roy returning from IR, they wanted more experience in the lineup. Clague over Austin Strand would have been an option, but Strand is the natural righty. Second, the Kings didn’t have a roster spot available (without putting Frk on IR), as the above lineup already had the maximum 23 players. Finally, the plan coming into the 2021 season was to rotate Clague and Tobias Bjornfot in the lineup, as LA didn’t really have room for both. Their initial seven roster spots for defensemen were: Drew Doughty, Mikey Anderson, Olli Maatta, Kurtis MacDermid, Roy, Walker, and one of Clague/Bjornfot. At this time, there isn’t an appetite to waive MacDermid (which would be required to send him to the AHL), so those were the seven.
LA Kings roster note…
Kale Clague is expected to play for AHL Ontario Reign tonight
— John Hoven | The Mayor (@mayorNHL) February 17, 2021
As for Strand, he will most likely be the odd-man out once Walker returns from LTIR. That’s not to say he hasn’t shown well. In fact, quite the opposite. Coaches and players — including Doughty — have all spoken up about the impressive play of Strand. And, as noted in the past, he brings something to the Kings prospect pool that the majority of other names don’t have, size. With a large frame and offensive instincts, Strand has elevated his status in the pipeline. Even so, there are only those seven spots available, with six of them already taken (again, without waiving MacDermid). That leaves a single spot for one of Clague / Bjornfot / Strand. We see the latter being returned to Ontario upon Walker’s return, until they can sort all of this out later.
Forwards
Prior to the Kings and Reign skating Wednesday morning, Clague, Rymsha, and Imama were returned to the AHL. In turn, this left three taxi openings that needed to be filled immediately.
From the current NHL roster, Kings management could have used any three of Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Lias Andersson, Strand, and/or Bjornfot for the taxi roles. The reason for this group of players is simple, they don’t require waivers. Thus, they can freely be moved from the NHL/AHL/taxi rosters, as needed. LA opted to place Andersson, Bjornfot, and Strand on the taxi squad. Don’t read too much into it, though. They’ve been rotating players on/off taxi throughout the season. They’re largely just paper transactions based upon who is available that particular day.
All of this is really a setup for what faces the Kings next.
Lizotte and Athanasiou are due back soon, with Lizotte potentially available to play on Thursday vs. the Coyotes. Sliding him onto the NHL roster will be rather easy. LA can place Frk on IR, which gets the roster to 22 players and creates a free spot for Lizotte.
The next move is the more difficult piece.
To make room for Athanasiou, a decision will need to take place – put a player on waivers or only keep one of JAD and Andersson.
We believe the Kings will opt for the safer route… for now.
Taking JAD out of the lineup at this point doesn’t make much sense. After serving an apprenticeship in the AHL last season, he seems to have secured his spot in the lineup. Thus, they’ll most likely place Andersson on the taxi squad, or even send him to the AHL for additional playing time. With that move, a roster spot opens for Athanasiou to re-join the 23-man roster.
When Frk is eventually healthy, it’s a whole different scenario.
To get him back onto the roster, LA would either need to send JAD down or waive somebody. And we believe this is when Michael Amadio’s number will come up.
Basically, the Kings will have three candidates to select from in this scenario: Amadio, Wagner, or Luff.
In reverse order, Luff has been given the least opportunity to date. He only played 18 games in LA under coach Todd McLellan last season and has just recently returned from injury, after having a solid training camp. Luff also has a clearly defined skill among this trio, he brings an incredible shot. Wagner also possesses a skill unique among the group, his speed. This leaves Amadio as the likely waiver candidate.
Sitting at 159 NHL GP, he’s had the most runway to work with – including a 10-game to start this season where he’s been given a bevy of looks in different scenarios, such as the power play and skating alongside Jeff Carter. People can talk all they want about all the little things he does well, yet with two points in 11 games this season, he isn’t doing enough.
Perhaps a trade could spare Amadio. It remains to be seen if a possible suitor emerges among the league’s other 30 teams.
Either way, when all of the above eventually comes together, the team might be looking at something like this:
LA Kings Roster
Iafallo – Kopitar – Brown
Kempe – Vilardi – Carter
Moore – Anderson-Dolan – Grundstrom
Athanasiou – Lizotte – Frk – Wagner – Luff
Anderson – Doughty
Bjornfot / Clague – Roy
Maatta – Walker
MacDermid
Quick
Petersen
Now how do they get Andersson back on the roster at that point?
For McLellan, GM Rob Blake, and Executive VP Jeff Solomon, that will be a welcome problem to try and solve.
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Amadio to waivers is a long overdue move.
Great recap. Amadio and Wagner are toast. Both play hard but won’t be part of our rebuild. I think Lizotte, Moore and Luff are bubble players holding spots for Fagemo, Byfield, Kaliyev, Thomas and/or Kupari. What about Grundy and Andersson? I really like them both. Grundy has found his role and is starting to feel comfy… Andersson needs time. He was an overall top 7. The skill is there, just need to find the right fit.
We all know we need the Dwight Kings, Jordan Nolan’s, Kyle Clifford’s types.. on the team. Those guys all were not the most skilled but were tough to play against.
It ‘s a great problem to have.
Great piece. Thank you very much. Well done.