Vilardi activated, assigned to Ontario; Mario Kempe placed on unconditional waivers

After a few weeks back on the ice, forward Gabriel Vilardi has officially been activated from the assigned to the Ontario Reign, as announced by the Kings this afternoon.

Vilardi has progressed steadily from skating on his own, through multiple stages in his recovery process over the last couple of weeks. Seeing Vilardi officially assigned to Ontario was his logical next step, and is another great step forward as he progresses towards an eventual return to game action.

Expect Vilardi to be a full participant in Reign practice tomorrow, with Ontario on the ice again at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo. For a forward group that has seen some shuffling in recent weeks, Vilardi is a welcomed addition up front who will add depth once he is ready for game action.

In an unrelated move, forward Mario Kempe was placed on unconditional waivers for the purpose of contract termination earlier this morning. It has been reported by Igor Eronko that he has been in talks with Avengard Omsk but that is unconfirmed at this time.

From a short-term outlook, this move is a hit to a Reign group that is already without three players to NHL recall (Luff, Grundstrom, Prokhorkin) and one to injury (Frk). Ontario is back in action this weekend in Tucson, where a group of younger players will look to fill the voids left up front by recent roster moves.

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