–Per the usual crew, Jeff Schultz has been placed on waivers. Should he clear, the Kings will assign him to AHL-Ontario, according to hockey ops, and no corresponding move will be made at this time. This clears up a little bit of a path for Derek Forbort to earn some playing time should a need arise as he now steps into a seventh defenseman role. When Schultz was signed two off-seasons ago to a two-year contract with an average annual value of $850,000, the thought was that the additional year and a somewhat high cap hit might discourage teams from putting in a waiver claim. Now that the additional year has been spent, the question is raised as to whether a team will do so. That might be a bit of a stretch, as Boston (nee San Jose) defenseman Matt Irwin was also placed on waivers, and is two years younger than Schultz and comes with a lower cap hit.
-The Ontario Reign traveled up to Oil Country and shut down the Bakersfield Condors 5-0 in their American Hockey League debut Saturday night. Peter Budaj notched a 21-save shutout, Vincent LoVerde scored the first goal in the team’s AHL history 8:53 into the first period, and Kris Newbury (x2), Scott Sabourin and Paul Bissonnette added goals for Mike Stothers’ bunch. Before making their Inland Empire grand opening on October 23-24, they’ll travel to Winnipeg this coming week to face the Manitoba Moose at the MTS Center on Thursday and Saturday.
-The NHL has defended the settlement between Mike Richards and the Kings, writes Pierre LeBrun. There’s an interesting (and fairly lengthy) defense of the agreement by NHL Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly.
-If you haven’t yet read it, you need to get your eyes on this Lisa Dillman LA Times story in which Dean Lombardi opens up about the emotional fall-out and timeline over the Richards situation.
-More good reading: Jack Jablonski is both a USC student and a Kings communications intern this season. He recently spoke with fellow Trojan Rich Hammond.
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