LOS ANGELES, Calif. — The Los Angeles Kings made a series of roster transactions today, Nov. 15, concerning the club and their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate. The Kings announced that goaltender Darcy Kuemper and defenseman Caleb Jones have been placed on injured reserve (IR) for undisclosed injuries.
As a result, the team has called up Erik Portillo and Jacob Moverare from the Ontario Reign. Furthermore, in the ECHL, the Reign have recalled Jacob Ingham from the Greenville Swamp Rabbits (the Kings’ ECHL affiliate).
Portillo will see his first NHL call-up of his professional career, as he will likely back up David Rittich during tomorrow’s matchup against the Detroit Red Wings at Crypto.com Arena. The young, 25-year-old Swedish goaltender has accumulated five games of playing time for the Reign this season, posting a 3.02 goals-against average (GAA) and a .891 save percentage (SV%) from 15 goals allowed and 122 saves. This is Portillo’s second season in the AHL for the Reign and third under contract with the Kings.
Fans may question why Pheonix Copley was not called up to take the backup position for the Kings. Well, he was called up a few weeks ago in late October when Kuemper was placed on injured reserve for over a week. He posted a rough 4.34 GAA and .833 SV% for one game during that call-up.
The Kings currently have three goaltenders over the age of thirty on the roster, with Portillo being the only one who is younger but still inexperienced when it comes to NHL exposure. However, this is a good opportunity for the young 6-foot-6 goalie to make a name for himself and pave a new path for the future of the team’s goaltending core.
For Moverare, this will be his first NHL call-up of this season and fourth season in the NHL for the Kings. During this season, he has participated in 11 games for the Reign and has accumulated two assists, and is a plus-8 in performance ranking. Over three seasons for the Kings, the 26-year-old Swedish defenseman has participated in 45 games and notched a goal and a pair of assists for three points — making him a plus-2.
He is originally a 112th overall pick by the Kings in the 2016 NHL Draft. Now it is unclear whether he will play tomorrow night against the Red Wings, but given the circumstances of the unreliable defensive core of the team so far, giving Moverare an opportunity to play will likely not pose much risk to performance.
The LA Kings will finish this week with a game at Crypto.com Arena tomorrow, Nov. 16, against the Detroit Red Wings. As a quick recap of this week’s games, the Kings went up against the Calgary Flames on Nov. 11, losing 3-1, and then lost to the Colorado Avalanche 4-2 on Nov. 13. They are currently 9-6-3 for 18 games and are second in the Pacific Division, behind the Vegas Golden Knights.
