Kings Recall Spence & Kupari + Arvidsson & Doughty Updates

Welcome To Buffalo, Insiders.

Stop 5 of 6, with the Kings set to conclude their trip tomorrow evening against the Sabres. The team has made a series of roster moves today, with two individuals joining the group in Western New York. Defenseman Jordan Spence and forward Rasmus Kupari have been recalled from AHL-Ontario today and are expected to join the team on the ice tomorrow for morning skate at KeyBank Arena in Buffalo.

The moves are necessitated by the present unavailability of a pair of veterans – Drew Doughty and Viktor Arvidsson. Doughty missed yesterday’s game in Columbus with a lower-body injury and is currently day-to-day. A day-to-day designation implies exactly that, day by day. With two games remaining on this trip, the Kings had just six healthy defensemen beyond number 8, meaning they needed an insurance policy should Doughty not be able to go, which is not known regarding games against the Sabres and Bruins.

Regarding Arvidsson, he was designated as “non-roster player status”, which means that he will not count towards the team’s 23-man roster limit, thus enabling the Kings to add Kupari. Per the CBA, a non-roster designation is defined as follows –

“Upon approval of the Commissioner, a Player who is unavailable to play due to reasons other than injury, illness or disability will be designated a Non-Roster Player, and during such period of his designation as such he will not count against the Club’s Active Roster limit and his Club may replace such Player.”

These absences are typically shorter-term, nothing long-term is expected here regarding Arvidsson. Further updates will be provided tomorrow when the team is back on the ice at morning skate.

In place of the two veterans, enter in Spence and Kupari, who bring the Kings to the roster limit of 23.

In spending the bulk of the season with the Reign, minus a short NHL recall on which he did not play, Spence has continued to develop as one of the most exciting young blueliners in the AHL. Spence has totaled 21 points (2-19-21) from 22 games played with Ontario, tied for the seventh most assists in the league amongst all skaters, third most amongst defensemen. Spence is a reigning AHL First Team All-Star from a season ago, as he established himself as the quarterback of the best power play in AHL history, as well as a play puck mover and a play driver at 5-on-5. We saw many of those traits during a 27-game stint with the Kings as well, including three in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. As an AHL sophomore, Spence has continued his offensive play at a similar level but he’s also added penalty killing and greater shutdown roles to his game than he has a season ago. Head Coach Marco Sturm has trusted Spence in all situations and he’s truly been a number-one defenseman with the Reign.

Kupari is obviously a familiar face for the Kings and he’ll rejoin the big club after he was assigned to the AHL on December 1. Kupari had a dynamic stint on a line with Kevin Fiala and Carl Grundstrom, an important role as the 3C following a reshuffling of the lines after a loss to Winnipeg in late-October. Kupari found a lot of success in that role initially, helping to enhance the depth up front in doing so, but as inconsistency plagued the group, Kupari was not immune to it himself. Not unique to Kupari, but something that has been used to describe several Kings players, and the group as a whole, this season. Kupari brings versatility as he can play both at center and on the wing, with a good blend of size and skating ability. When he plays a North-South game, he’s quite effective, using his big body and high-level skating abilities to excel in a bottom-six role.

Where Spence and Kupari potentially slot in remains to be seen. With a back-to-back over the last 48 hours, the Kings will not hold a team practice today in Buffalo, with the group likely to hit the ice for a full-team morning skate on Tuesday. Spence and Kupari are likely to be involved there, so we’ll get a better sense of whether or not they could play against the Sabres tomorrow morning. In terms of additional options, the Kings inserted defenseman Tobias Bjornfot in Doughty’s place on Sunday, with the young Swede logging 14:23 against the Blue Jackets. Forward Samuel Fagemo is also an option for the Kings at the forward position. Fagemo has been on the trip with the Kings from the beginning but has not played over the last four games. With two points from the two NHL games he did play earlier this season, and a familiarity playing with Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore in Arvidsson’s spot, perhaps there’s a fit there, or elsewhere in the lineup with other moves around him.

A story to follow later on today, Insiders, on Ontario Head Coach Marco Sturm, who is growing and developing in his first professional head coaching role. And we’ll see what else the day could have in store! Chicken wings await for me in Buffalo, preparing the belly in advance for a spicy evening.