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Roster Trimmed, Hutton Signed

September 19, 2019, 11:53 AM ET [9 Comments]
Matt Ross
Los Angeles Kings Blogger • RSSArchiveCONTACT
Preseason is such a weird time. While it's cool to see the young guys play and get a feel for what you have in the pipeline, I don't have the "eye" to see what the team might look like and how they'll perform until we get a few games into the regular season.

Some folks freak out about preseason loses and feel like it's foreshadowing to a long and brutal season. Personally, I've never really thought too much into it - and that's for any league (NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA, etc.). For the most part, I think it's just a time for teams to evaluate future talent and start working on timing, chemistry, etc. - really just working out the kinks.

That being said, the Kings split their first two games with the Coyotes. Jewels From The Crown has a solid writeup about the two games. As someone who missed the games, the article helped give me a feel and insight into how the players looked and are shaping up.

I found this quote from McLellan interesting:

“It’s disappointing we came out with the results we had, but I think there’s some real teachable moments. I think there were some good nights by some individuals, some disappointing nights from some players that maybe know better and we expect a lot more from, but now we have evidence and that’s what we’re looking for. We can begin to sit down with some players, walk them through some shifts and some expectations and start to develop our team.”

After the split-squad games, the Kings got to work on trimming the roster down, with five players were sent to their junior teams (player stats courtesy of Jewels of the Crown):

Forwards:

Aidan Dudas (Owen Sound Attack, OHL): Dudas played 13:48 in Arizona, including 3:46 of power play time. He registered no shots and had three shot attempts (all misses).

Arthur Kaliyev (Hamilton Bulldogs, OHL): Kaliyev played 12:59 in Los Angeles and recorded two shots, one hit, and one blocked shot. He was on the ice for one goal against.

Goaltenders:

Jacob Ingham (Kitchener Rangers, OHL): Ingham did not play in either of the split squad games yesterday.

Lukas Parik (Spokane Chiefs, WHL): Parik did not play in either of the split squad games yesterday.

Defenseman:

Jordan Spence (Moncton Wildcats, QMJHL): Spence played 18:17 in Los Angeles, including 2:58 of shorthanded time. He recorded one shot, one hit, and one blocked shot, and was on the ice for one goal against.

Interesting to see Kaliyev sent down so quickly. A lot of people were very high on him (experts and fans alike) for his goal-scoring ability. I thought he would be around for a few more games at least - if only to take a longer look at him, gaining more experience with higher-end competition.

Hutton Signed

Free agent defenseman Ben Hutton has agreed to a one-year, $1.5 M deal with the Kings.

Hutton was a fifth round pick by Vancouver in the 2012 NHL Draft. His four years in the league have been up and down defensively. He has 276 NHL games and notched 70 points (11 goals, 49 assists). Hutton averaged 22:21 TOI in the 2018-19 season.

I think this is a depth move by Blake for the blue line to bring in a guy that will (hopefully) be able to eat up some minutes and keep other blueliners legs and lungs fresh.


[Image courtesy of NHL.com]

Kings return to preseason action tonight against he Knights.

Go, Kings, Go!
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