Believe it or not, there is actually a hockey game to be played in Southern California tonight.
With much of the Kings hockey universe focused on Tuesday night’s mega-trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets, Ontario Reign coach Marco Sturm and his squad left El Segundo today and headed out to Ontario, where they’ll faceoff with the visiting Abbotsford Canucks.
Ontario Reign are bringing in a pair of reinforcements…
With a few guys banged up, they've recalled forwards Brett Kemp and Justin Nachbaur.
We'll have to see how this all shakes out. Team plays at home on Wednesday, then hit the road for games on Friday and Saturday.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) February 28, 2023
The Kings aren’t the only club experiencing some roster shuffling. Due to a few guys being banged up, the Reign recalled a pair of forwards on Wednesday. Brett Kemp played two games with the Reign last season and has seen action in four more games during the 2022-23 campaign. He’s been with ECHL Greenville most of this year, putting up 30 points (15G, 15A) in 30 games thus far. Meanwhile, Justin Nachbaur has yet to play for the Reign, yet he’s seen action in 27 games for Greenville.
LA Kings Roster Move
Björnfot returned to AHL Ontario
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) March 1, 2023
Defenseman Toby Bjornfot was assigned to the AHL earlier today. However, this may be more a paper transaction at this point and coming off the long road trip, we wouldn’t expect to see him in the lineup tonight.
Even so, there are several questions on the blueline entering play against the Canucks. Veteran Cameron Gaunce appears ready to return and could be replacing Helge Grans.
Based upon the line rushes at practice yesterday, which was used to create the projected lineup below, there are several additional updates to pass along.
For starters, forward Alex Turcotte remains out following an injury suffered on this play. From what we’ve heard, he hasn’t even resumed skating yet, so his return is not imminent.
Further, Sammy Fagemo is believed to be one of the forwards banged up, as he didn’t participate in Tuesday’s practice. He could potentially slide into the lineup tonight. If so, he would most likely be at RW2, pushing Aidan Dudas down to a bottom-6 role.
ONTARIO REIGN PROJECTED LINEUP vs. ABBOTSFORD CANUCKS
Andersson – Tynan – Madden
Ward – Quine – Dudas
Lee – Helenius – Chromiak
Goulbourne – Becker – Nachbaur/Kemp
Bisson – Spence
Moverare – Gaunce
Nousiainen – Allard
Petersen
Villalta
Likely game scratches: Bjornfot, Fagemo, Grans, Pavlychev, Thompson, Turcotte, Wagner
Recalled to NHL: Kupari
Out injured: Thomas, Doty
Puck drop is scheduled for 7pm PST tonight and the game can be viewed on AHL TV.
RELATED CONTENT:
UPDATED: LA Kings Acquire Gavrikov and Korpisalo in Trade with Columbus for Jonathan Quick
Sturm, McLellan, and Blake Seeing Positive Strides in Reshaping of Ontario Reign
Lineup Image created by ALo Images
Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com