After being claimed off waivers by the New York Rangers on Monday morning, forward Arthur Kaliyev’s time in Los Angeles has officially come to an end. His final stats line reads 71 points (35G, 36A) in 188 NHL games played over three seasons with the Kings.
In 2018-19, Kaliyev recorded 51 goals in the OHL and was then selected by LA at that summer’s NHL Draft (second-round pick, 33rd overall). Following one more season with the Hamilton Bulldogs, he turned pro and had 31 points in 40 games for AHL Ontario — and was named as the team’s Player of the Year.
Kaliyev also played one NHL game that same season, scoring a goal in his Kings debut:
Over the next two seasons, Kaliyev produced 14 and 13 goal campaigns for the Kings, while largely playing bottom-6 minutes. A reduction in playing time came last season, and the 23-year-old forward never really found his groove again. He was reportedly shopped over the summer without any takers found, then re-signed with the Kings on a one-year deal just before training camp opened this past September. A broken clavicle during one of the early scrimmages sidelined him for three months; by the time he recently returned, coach Jim Hiller had a lineup that was already filled with too many forwards — essentially resulting in Kaliyev getting squeezed out of a spot. More on that situation can be found in the articles linked below.
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