Game 1 of the playoffs — in either the NHL or AHL — hasn’t even begun, yet the drama is already in full swing. Early Monday came a roster move with far reaching tentacles, when the LA Kings recalled goaltender Pheonix Copley. After playing 21 of Ontario’s final 26 regular season games, Copley will not slot in as LA’s third goaltender. Leaving a question of… for how long?
From what we’ve been able to gather thus far, this move may or may not stick beyond the next 48 hours. Copley is going to begin the Stanley Cup Playoffs as the Kings third netminder. He’ll be in that spot for Monday and Tuesday, and then the organization will reassess and determine what’s next. In other words, what comes next still hasn’t been officially determined.
If Copley remains up with the Kings, 18-year-old prospect Carter George would slide into the No. 1 goaltending spot for the Reign. Technically, he’s not even eligible to play in the AHL provided his OHL club is still playing, which is why he’ll return to join the Owen Sound Attack next season. However, with that team already eliminated from their playoff run this season, the young netminder was reassigned to Ontario a few weeks ago and pitched a shutout for the Reign in his pro debut on April 12 vs. the Barracuda.
George went on to play a second game with the Reign this past Friday, picking up another victory.
On Thursday, Ontario opens up a best-of-three Calder Cup playoff series against San Jose — in a game that will be played at Crypto.com Arena (as explained here).
For more on George, be sure to check out this recent feature story:
Circling back to Copley, he entered this season as the No. 2 netminder for Reign coach Marco Sturm. However, once Erik Portillo went down with an injury in mid-March, the net belonged to Copley, who then finished his AHL season with a 2.49 goals against average, fifth best among all goalies who played more than 40 games. Of course, he more famously came up to the NHL and helped save the Kings season back in 2022-23. A knee injury derailed his season one year ago, yet he rehabbed it following surgery and was resigned by the organization last summer.
Follow @mayorNHL
Continue reading...
