As we reported a few days ago, all signs were pointing to rookie Brandt Clarke being assigned to the AHL, and it’s now official. Although he isn’t eligible to play this entire season with the Ontario Reign — as his rights are held by the Barrie Colts (OHL) — there is a provision in the CHL/NHL Player Agreement that allows for a 19-year-old junior player to have a two-week conditioning assignment in the AHL once he’s missed five consecutive NHL games. Saturday night’s Kings-Red Wings game marked such an event for Clarke, so now he’s off to join the Reign.
Ontario’s upcoming schedule:
Sunday, Nov. 13 vs. San Diego Gulls
Saturday, Nov. 19 at Henderson Silver Knights
Sunday, Nov. 20 vs. Henderson Silver Knights
Wednesday, Nov. 23 vs. San Jose Barracuda
Saturday, Nov. 26 vs. Tucson Roadrunners
Sunday, Nov. 27 vs. Tucson Roadrunners
We will post a projected lineup for today’s Reign-Gulls game shortly. However, Mayor’s Manor has learned that Clarke is expected to play this afternoon.
After his two-week conditioning assignment, GM Rob Blake will again need to make a decision on what to do with Clarke next. Should he play in his 10th NHL game, it would activate the first year of his NHL contract. Also lurking in the background is the start of Team Canada’s World Junior Evaluation Camp, which should start up around December 5. Clarke was a participant at Canada’s summer camp and is under consideration for their 2023 WJC roster. As a first round pick, the Kings cannot block him from playing, a rule that came into play under former GM Dean Lombardi with Adrian Kempe several years ago.
Lemieux went down the tunnel after that last shift
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 13, 2022
— Eric (@kingsgifs2) November 13, 2022
Todd says Lemieux will likely be out for a while.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) November 13, 2022
Meanwhile, Kings forward Brendan Lemieux was injured in the third period of Saturday’s game. While coach Todd McLellan didn’t provide any injury specifics regarding his fourth-line winger, he did say preliminary indications were Lemieux would be out for a bit. He’s now been placed on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. In 15 games this season, Lemieux has three assists. His most obvious replacement in the lineup would be Jaret Anderson-Dolan, who has been a healthy scratch since playing October 27 vs. Winnipeg; missing the last eight games.
In conjunction with these two moves above, the Kings have also recalled forward Lias Andersson and defenseman Jacob Moverare from AHL Ontario. Both players will join the Kings on their flight today to Calgary, where LA opens a four-game road trip on Monday.
Andersson has split time between the Kings and Reign since being acquired at the 2020 NHL Draft. He’s currently tied for first in goals (5) on the Reign. He’s skated in all 11 games Ontario has played this season, almost exclusively on the top line.
Moverare has played seven games with the Reign thus far this season, including Saturday night in Bakersfield. Last January, the 6-foot-3 defender made his NHL debut before going on to play 19 games in a Kings uniform; finishing with a plus-3 rating and averaging over 16 minutes of ice time.
Both Andersson and Moverare cleared waivers coming out of training camp last month, before they were assigned to Ontario. That means they can now be on the Kings NHL roster for a maximum of 30 days or 10 games played (whichever comes first) and still be sent back to the AHL without needing to clear waivers again.
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Damn. I like Pepe. He’s good at hockey, actually. Doesn’t score a lot but plays well with Lizzo and is tenacious and ferocious. Maybe the Blakester can target acquiring Bertuzzi from D-town. He plays a similar game but managed 30 something goals last season, earns about 4.5 mil, and is a UFA at the end of the year so he may not be as expensive to get. He’s injured right now but should be back soon enough. Trading with Yzerman is hard since he will try to get the the sun and moon for even a depth forward but the Kings need that truculance. Who else can they get?