Two more assignments; Budaj on waivers; Vilardi skating in track suit

Insiders. A good morning to you from a quick stop-over at Toyota Sports Center. Several notes to share:

TWO MORE CUTS | Zack Mitchell and Alex Lintuniemi have cleared waivers and were assigned to the Ontario Reign this morning. This assignment leaves the Kings with 31 players on the active roster, though that counts Gabriel Vilardi and Jonny Brodzinski, both of whom are injured and will not be healthy in time for the start of the season. Reign Insider Zach Dooley will share an updated Ontario Training camp roster that includes the addition of nine players, including this man, Colton Saucerman.

BUDAJ ON WAIVERS | No surprise here: Peter Budaj’s role this season will be to serve as a 1B/#2 in Ontario as a veteran presence behind starter Cal Petersen, who got into 41 games in 2017-18 and was named to the AHL All-Star Classic while splitting time with Jack Campbell. Budaj will officially be assigned to Ontario on Monday upon clearing waivers. Also of note – as shared below – Andy Andreoff, sent to Tampa Bay for Budaj, was also placed on waivers and upon a quick glance appears to be out of the running for a depth forward role on the Lightning. Speaking of alums, Nic Dowd is very much in the mix for a fourth line role with Washington.

VILARDI SKATING | There’s no change in his week-to-week status, but Gabriel Vilardi (back) has skated in a track suit, hockey ops confirmed to LA Kings Insider. As reported, the plan was to get him on the ice last Thursday, but I didn’t actually see him out there, post-Kings practice, on that particular day. Based on correspondence, he’s gotten onto the ice in a track suit for some skating at least once but most likely twice. Again, this is a bit of a holding pattern. There’s no real change in his status – just a quick update for the sake of accuracy and for those wondering. As you were.

-Lead photo via Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

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