Oh boy, Los Angeles Kings fans, brace yourselves for some more patience-testing news! Your beloved winger Viktor Arvidsson, who’s been chilling on the long-term injured reserve like it’s a vacation, is still weeks away from even sniffing the ice with the team. At 30 years old, and after showing off last season with 26 snipes and 59 points, the dude is just now back to skating solo—not a great sign if you were hoping he’d jump back into the lineup pronto. When he finally gets the all-clear, the Kings will have to play a high-stakes game of cap Tetris before the trade deadline. Fun times, right?
Switching gears, let’s talk about some other Pacific Division antics, shall we?
First off, Los Angeles is playing the hokey-pokey with winger Samuel Fagemo. They sent the kid back to the AHL’s Ontario Reign, and let’s be real, this isn’t his first rodeo with the up-and-down express. He’s lit it up in the AHL though, with 20 goals in 24 games since they yoinked him back off waivers.
Meanwhile, the Sharks’ Anthony Duclair—yea, the one playing agent for himself—is shrugging off the fact that he hasn’t chatted about a new contract yet. Cool as a cucumber, with eight goals and eight assists to his name, he’s benched himself in the negotiation box. But with a 31-goal season like a shiny trophy in his past, you better believe he’s aiming to cash in on more than the $3MM he’s getting now.
Over in Canucks territory, Linus Karlsson is playing ping-pong between the bigs and the minors. Fresh off his latest recall, he’s already back with the AHL’s Abbotsford crew. The dude’s an AHL standout, but in the NHL? He’s like a ghost hunting for his first point. Spooky.
And lastly, the Ducks are throwing us a curveball. Defenseman Ilya Lyubushkin, notorious for putting his body on the line with 117 blocked shots and doling out 71 hits, is benched due to an upper-body boo-boo. Despite only dishing four apples (assists, for the laymen) and his free agent status looming, teams looking for a blue line bruiser might give him a once-over as we trudge toward the postseason.
There you have it—your personal whirlwind trip through the latest and definitely-not-greatest of the Pacific Division shenanigans. Buckle up; it’s going to be a bumpy ride towards the trade deadline!