Obviously, the two most important things on coach Jim Hiller’s mind at the moment are the four points up for grabs on Friday and Saturday night at Crypto.com Arena. However, lurking in the background are a couple of decisions that will soon start to see a spotlight shining in their direction.
Brandt Clarke
When the NHL shuts down for the 4 Nations tournament on Sunday, many teams across the league will put forth some paper transactions. Essentially, they’ll be assigning young players on entry level contracts to their respective AHL affiliates. Some may play a few games, most won’t. The moves will largely be designed as cap saving moves — because the cap is not freezing during the schedule break. Teams tight up against the cap could look to get a little bit of additional savings by having fewer players on their NHL rosters. Similar moves often happen over the annual Christmas break. For example, the Kings sent Andre Lee down for a few days during December’s pause.
When it comes to the Kings and their roster plans once they get by the next few games, the only player who would be eligible for such a loan is Brandt Clarke. Being on an ELC, he’s eligible to freely travel between the NHL-AHL without going through waivers (not only this season, but next season, as well). We’ve checked in with various sources inside the Kings front office, and we’ve learned LA brass doesn’t plan on assigning Clarke to AHL Ontario for the break — even as a paper transaction. We’ve also learned that if something unforeseen on that front changes in the next few days, they certainly would not have him suit up for any of the four games Ontario is scheduled to play while the 4 Nations event is going on in Montreal and Boston.
Andreas Englund
Following up on our previous article about what the Kings will look to do with their nine active defensemen once Drew Doughty returned to the lineup, the end of that road is drawing near. Their plan to hold an unprecedented number of blueliners on their roster was delayed slightly with the hand injury to Mikey Anderson. Yet, that is expected to change soon. From what we’re hearing, they’ll hold steady with the nine through the games this weekend against Dallas and Anaheim (i.e. in case of possible injury replacement issues). Then, come Sunday, we’re expecting Andreas Englund to go on waivers. It’s a move that will serve multiple purposes, including: saving cap space by having one less player on the roster, trimming to a more manageable eight rearguards (although that could be argued as still possibly being one too many on the roster), and ultimately creates a path toward another player potentially joining the team — either via a call-up or acquisition prior to the NHL Trade Deadline on March 7.
For his part, Englund was brought in during the summer of 2023 with a specific role in mind. He played all 82 regular season games with the Kings during 2023-24, his first year of a two-year contract carrying a $1M AAV. Set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, the 29-year-old has seen action in 11 games thus far this season. Kings GM Rob Blake is believed to have been testing the waters on a possible trade for Englund over the past week. Should one materialize before Sunday, getting any asset back in return is almost always favorable. Should waivers be the only option remaining, and Englund cleared, he would then most likely be assigned to AHL Ontario. More on that to come in a few days.
Salary Cap Update
Here is where things get a bit more interesting. Currently, the Kings are projected to arrive at the Trade Deadline with about $3M to play with. However, that’s also assuming they’re carrying the 23 guys on the roster right now. Getting down to 22 players instead, that frees up a little bit more space. Using Englund as an example, the Kings wouldn’t gain his full $1M. That’s not how the cap works. Roughly speaking, they’ve already ‘spent’ over half that by having him on the roster for the first-half of the season. Even so, every $100k helps.
Assuming everything above goes according to plan, what else will the Kings do with that open spot coming out of the break — and around the Trade Deadline. At the moment, the path isn’t as clear. They could call up Sammy Helenius (or even Lee), and then send him back to AHL Ontario without going through waivers if they needed that 23rd roster spot back to add a player from outside prior to March 7. They could also wait until after the Trade Deadline, when rosters expand, and find a way to call-up Helenius or Lee at that time.
We’ll have more on the trade front in the weeks ahead (again, first and foremost the Kings need to focus on four available points staring back at them this weekend, and then reassess the larger situation over the break). Until then, we’ll at least give you a trio of potential names to keep an eye on: Scott Laughton (Flyers), Joel Armia (Canadiens), and Rickard Rakell (Penguins).
For more on the cap situation and additional context, see the article linked below.
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