Don’t look for a catch pop-tune to be written about Arthur Kaliyev and the LA Kings having a summer of fun together anytime soon.
It’s been a challenging situation for months, with the 23-year-old forward more interested in a change of scenery than a reset in SoCal with new head coach Jim Hiller.
As Mayor’s Manor first reported on Monday, cooler heads have prevailed… for now.
Kaliyev has arrived in Los Angeles in time for training camp to open. That, in and of itself, is encouraging news. With him set to put ink to paper on a new one-year deal — expected be for less than $1M — the situation is slowly starting to move in a positive direction.
Over the past few months, both sides of the coin have been discussed at length on Kings Of The Podcast. In short, there hasn’t been much of a trade market for Kaliyev. So what’s best for both sides? Perhaps the most logical option is to get him some playing time in a middle-six role to start the 2024-25 season. If he produces, it helps all involved and then the two sides can reassess things in a few months.
When given offensive oriented opportunities in the past, LA’s 2019 Draft selection has been able to produce. What looked like the early signs of more to come, Kaliyev scored 14 goals in 2021-22 while suiting up in 80 games for the Kings. Limited to just 56 games the following year, he still scored 13 goals — all while averaging just 11:41 of ice time.
Last season, he began the year by serving a two-game suspension and never seemed to get back on track after that. Seemingly at odds with then-coach Todd McLellan, Kaliyev was often scratched during the second half of the season, even after Hiller took over.
He scored in his NHL debut and was a force to be reckoned with prior to that at the World Junior Championship, playing alongside fellow Kings prospect Alex Turcotte for Team USA. Now, with the latter on the Kings roster too, maybe they can somehow rekindle a little of that previous magic and help both of their causes moving forward.
From our article last week:
Hear some of Hiller’s thoughts about Kaliyev and the upcoming season in his interview below.
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