This week has come with a dizzying amount of Kings-related roster news… and there’s still more to come.
Let’s quickly recap:
— Drew Doughty returned from injury early, giving the Kings eight healthy defensemen. That situation became a little more clear earlier today when Kale Clague was placed on waivers. Should he go unclaimed, look for him to be assigned to AHL Ontario tomorrow after 11am PST.
— LA claimed Christian Wolanin off waivers and he was immediately assigned to Ontario. The reality is, Kings management never wanted to lose him in the first place. He impressed the staff after he was acquired from Ottawa last season, so much so that he was signed to a contract extension over the summer. He’s now where he was expected to be all along, playing for the Reign and available as a depth defensemen should GM Rob Blake need to supply coach Todd McLellan with an extra defenseman should the opportunity arise.
— After double shoulder surgery in July, Akil Thomas was targeted for a return to action just after U.S. Thanksgiving and he’s right on track. As we recently reported, he’s scheduled to make his season debut this Saturday in Bakersfield. To that end, Thomas was activated from IR earlier today and practiced in a regular colored jersey. Given that he’s coming in cold, without the benefit of a training camp, expectations should be set accordingly for the next few weeks. However, in the big picture, he should be a welcome sight for Reign coach John Wroblewski… especially considering the lack of sandpaper in the Ontario lineup this year, compared to what they had last season.
AA appears to be out of protocol, skating now at TSPC.
— The Mayor (@mayorNHL) December 3, 2021
— MayorsManor has learned that Andreas Athanasiou will not travel with the Kings on their road trip to Edmonton and Vancouver; despite skating earlier today, he has not officially been activated from protocol. As they’ve done with several other players in similar situations, LA management will look to give him some time to ramp his conditioning back up before throwing him into a game.
And QB is out of the red No Contact jersey.
— The Mayor (@mayorNHL) December 3, 2021
BTW – Expecting an AHL conditioning assignment for Byfield before a return to the NHL.
Pump the brakes.
— The Mayor (@mayorNHL) December 3, 2021
— Our sources have indicated Quinton Byfield is targeted for an AHL assignment as early as this weekend. He most likely won’t play Saturday, maybe not even Tuesday. While there isn’t a set timetable for his return to the Kings, the general idea is to get him back up and running at a consistent level after missing the last eight weeks with an ankle injury. Byfield was impressive during training camp and appeared to be further along than many had expected coming out of the summer. As such, he was expected to make the Kings opening night roster. Given LA’s struggles with consistency this season, getting Byfield to the Kings 3C in 30 days should be a reasonable goal.
— With Athanasiou and Byfield out of contention, the Kings will be calling up a forward from AHL Ontario, as we suggested in our morning report. From indications we’ve received this afternoon, it won’t be Alex Turcotte or Vladimir Tkachev. However, it will be somebody that will most likely get a chance to play at least one game this time.
When the Kings brought up TJ Tynan for the last trip, he never played. That was a different situation, though, as the team was coming off a win and then kept winning games. Right now, McLellan is still searching for the right mix of 12 forwards.
Tynan could very well be the guy who gets the call again.
Three other candidates in consideration would be Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Gabe Vilardi, and Martin Frk. For some reason, the latter just doesn’t feel like the guy. He’s having a great year with the Reign, no doubt. Yet, of those three, it would appear there’s a stronger possibility of Vilardi or Anderson-Dolan getting the call. JAD has 13 points (5G, 8A) in 16 games with the Reign this season. He also has a plus-6 rating and has spent quite a bit of time on the penalty kill. In four games since rejoining Ontario, Vilardi has posted five points (2G, 3A). He has been used exclusively on the wing during this recent stint with the Reign.
It sure seems like Tynan will be the one getting the call-up. We shall see.
Confirmed… it will be Tynan.
UPDATE: Blake Lizotte was placed in protocol on Saturday morning. As a result, add Jaret Anderson-Dolan to the list of call-ups. He will join Tyana and the Kings on today’s flight to Edmonton.
RELATED CONTENT:
BREAKING NEWS: Clague To Be Placed on Waivers; Forward Likely to be Called Up by Kings
Lead photo of Byfield via ALo Images
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