It's been a telling sign for the Los Angeles Kings in the active roster lineup this past week on the ice that forward Adrian Kempe has missed games this regular season in the West due to injury issues with an upper-body ailment in the Pacific Division.
Injury updates for the Los Angeles Kings for forwards Joel Armia and Adrian Kempe vs. Philadelphia on Thursday night
Kempe will reportedly be a game-time decision for the active roster lineup for new interim head coach DJ Smith and the Kings on the ice tonight on Thursday. He's been listed with a status of "day-to-day" on the injury report for the Kings this past week in the active roster lineup.
There were positive injury updates for Smith and the Kings' coaching staff regarding the statuses of two key forward players in the roster late this week on Thursday.
We mentioned in a report on Wednesday afternoon (March 18) that Kempe was listed with a status of "day-to-day" on the injury report for the Kings due to a lower-body injury he suffered this past week on the ice. Kempe missed the first game for the Kings in the West on the ice this regular season in the Pacific Division this past Monday evening vs. the New York Rangers at MSG early this week for the team.
Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider reported on March 19 that Kempe and Armia both made progress in practice for the Smith and the Kings' coaching staff today.
Armia reportedly returned to practice for Smith and the Kings' coaching staff on Thursday in team drills. He wore the full-contact jersey with the team in practice and drills on the ice at the Toyota Sports Performance Center on Thursday morning.
He will not play tonight for the Kings on home ice at Crypto.com Arena vs. the Philadelphia Flyers.
It sounds like if Armia is taking more contact in practice and team drills tomorrow (March 20) for the Kings, that would be a good sign that he will soon return to the active roster lineup for Smith and the LA coaching staff this regular season in the West.