The fairytale story of Pheonix Copley and the LA Kings has likely come to an end. Earlier today, Mayor’s Manor reported the North Pole native had successful ACL surgery and is expected to miss the remainder of the 2023-24 NHL season.
LA Kings roster update: @MayorsManor has confined, goaltender Phoenix Copley had successful ACL surgery. He will miss the remainder of 2023-24 NHL season.
Story coming soon.
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) January 6, 2024
Originally signed as a depth move in July 2022, largely intended to provide veteran support at the AHL level, Copley was thrust into NHL action in December of last season. After previous stops in St. Louis and Washington, the veteran netminder found his home in Los Angeles. He essentially put the Kings on his back and played a significant role in leading them into the playoffs last season.
As a reward for his solid play, General Manager Rob Blake signed him to a one-year extension in February 2022 with a $1.5 million AAV. Copley did not start in the post season, though, due to the Trade Deadline acquisition of Joonas Korpisalo.
Last year, Copley tied for the sixth most NHL wins after his debut (24-6-3 in 36 games) and set a record for the fastest goaltender in Kings history to reach the 20-win mark (29 appearances). He also established career highs in nearly every statistical category, including: starts (35), wins (24), saves (855), goals-against-average (2.64) and minutes played (2,089).
Entering this season. Copley was battling free agent signee Cam Talbot for the Kings starting position. While the latter has earned the No. 1 title, Copley was still considered a vital part of the Kings roster.
He had played eight games with the Kings this season before injuring himself during practice on Dec. 15. A few days later, he was placed on Long Term Injured Reserve (LTIR), giving Blake some much needed salary cap relief for the balance of the season.
Copley will now head into this July as an unrestricted free agent.
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In addition to Talbot, Blake also signed goalie David Rittich this past summer. Like Copley before, it was an insurance move to give the organization a No. 3 option for situations just like this.
Now with Copley out, Aaron Dell has been added to the depth chart on an AHL contract. He will join Ontario and provide some experience in a tandem with rookie Erik Portillo.
Jacob Ingham is also available as an option. However, given that he missed all of last year with back surgery, the team would probably prefer he plays in a regular rotation. As such, he could return to ECHL Greenville at some point. From what we’ve been able to gather, no immediate decision has been made, although there has been some discussion of carrying three goalies in Ontario.
If Ingham was eventually loaned out, it wouldn’t really have much to do with him. It would be more about having Dell ready as the Kings No. 3 guy, just in case he needed to be recalled to the NHL.
In the meantime, Ingham is scheduled to make his second start for the Reign later tonight.
At 34 years old, Dell joins the organization with 130 games of NHL experience. Last season he split time in San Jose, largely playing for their AHL franchise and only getting into four NHL games. With the Barracuda, he had an .898 save percentage. The year prior, Dell posted a .909 SV% in 22 AHL games. He also suited up in 12 contests for the Buffalo Sabres.
Adding another goaltender prior to the NHL Trade Deadline in early March is also an option, should things not work out with Dell over the next 60 days.
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