Manor BREAKING NEWS: Kings to Place Arthur Kaliyev on Waivers

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In a move that looked inevitable a week ago, Arthur Kaliyev will be placed on waivers this morning by the LA Kings. Should he not be claimed by another team, the 23-year-old forward is expected to be assigned to AHL Ontario on Monday.

For the next 24 hours, though, all other 31 NHL teams will have an opportunity to claim him. Kaliyev is currently on a one-year contract with an $825k AAV. He will still be a restricted free agent this coming summer.

After seeing limited playing time last season, most thought he would be traded around the 2024 Draft. When a deal didn’t materialize, the two sides came back together just before training camp and ironed out a new contract, with what was expected to be a ‘clean slate’ (where he would have an opportunity to earn playing time for coach Jim Hiller). Unfortunately, an injury during one of the first scrimmages of camp shelved all of those ideas. Once healed, he recently completed a five-game conditioning stint in the AHL.

With Trevor Moore and Trevor Lewis both returning from injury on Saturday, the Kings needed to create two roster spots for them. One was done by simply assigning Andre Lee, who is waiver exempt, to the AHL. In a fluke of timing, defenseman Kyle Burroughs wasn’t available for yesterday’s game vs. Tampa Bay due to the birth of a child. This allowed the Kings to place him in a non-roster status, freeing up the other spot needed. With Burroughs expected back in time for this coming Wednesday’s game vs. Calgary, LA brass opted to place Kaliyev on waivers to create the roster spot needed.

More on the situation can be found here (from a separate article earlier this week):

Arthur Kaliyev and Beyond​

And now for the elephant in the room. What’s going on with Kaliyev? We’ll try to make it short and then get into the details for those interested. In brief, there is probably a stronger possibility that Kaliyev ends up on waivers before he ever plays an NHL game this season. Could he play for the Kings soon? Sure, it’s possible — but that would almost be a worst-case scenario because it would likely mean several players were injured. With Hiller using the 11+7 configuration most nights, and with several players ahead of Kaliyev on the depth chart — not to mention the fact that he simply hasn’t played a lot of hockey over the past 12 months — the road in front of him is going to be a challenge. Yes, there was going to be a ‘clean slate’ during training camp. However, once he was injured long-term, everything changed.

Here’s a rather simple way to look at Kaliyev’s situation — put Doughty to the side for a moment (since he has the longest timeline) and focus on LA’s roster when everybody else is healthy:

Turcotte – Kopitar – Kempe
Foegele – Byfield – Moore
Fiala – Danault – Laferriere
Jeannot – Helenius – Lewis
Lee – Thomas – Kaliyev

Anderson – Gavrikov
Edmundson – Clarke
Moverare – Spence
Englund – Burroughs

Rittich – Kuemper

With a 23-player roster limit in the NHL, that’s two extra players. Assigning Lee to Ontario is the easiest move because he doesn’t require waivers. There would still be one more move needed. Waiving Andreas Englund (or even Kyle Burroughs) is an option, as most teams don’t carry eight defensemen. However, with Hiller liking the 11+7 configuration, that would lead to the Kings more likely keeping an eighth defenseman in case one of the seven ‘regulars’ was injured. With Moverare already among that group, there really isn’t another NHL-ready defenseman in Ontario besides Caleb Jones.

Assuming that’s all true, the decision most likely comes down to Kaliyev, Sammy Helenius, and Akil Thomas. Sending Helenius down is easy because he doesn’t require waivers, yet the organization seems to really like having him up in the NHL.

Yes, Kaliyev could be an option on the power play, but circling back to the comments above, it’s most likely a tall task for him to leapfrog Thomas on the depth chart at this point.

Now, if Moore ends up being out for a few weeks, maybe that gives Kaliyev a little longer runway. Maybe.

When asked about Kaliyev’s situation on Sunday — and this is more reading the tea leaves than concreate facts — it sure didn’t sound like Kaliyev would be playing an NHL game sometime soon.

“His first team practice, that will be his start,” Hiller said. “The way I’m looking at it, that’ll be like day one for him. Then, we’ll see where it goes from there.”

When pressed a little further on the issue, Hiller was rather non-committal when asked if Kaliyev’s return to game action could still be three to four weeks away, if he’s just at step one.

“I don’t know,” remarked the Kings bench boss. “I don’t want to put any timelines on it with him. I hope not, but I don’t want to put any timelines on it.”

With 25 players and only 23 spots, the odds don’t seem to be in Kaliyev’s favor.

MORE LA KINGS NEWS:

Trevor Lewis Injury Update (updated with video)

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