The good news for the Los Angeles Kings is that they appear to be pretty close to being completely healthy again at forward as Trevor Moore and Trevor Lewis were practicing in full on Friday. This doesn't guarantee that they will be available on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Lightning but it does seem to indicate it will be sooner rather than later.
The return of these two players combined with Arthur Kaliyev returning, has created a bit of a logjam among the forwards for the Los Angeles Kings. When considering they have played almost exclusively with 11 forwards and seven defensemen for most of the season, ice time is sometimes tough to come by.
If the Kings were to activate Moore and Lewis off injured reserve, they are going to have to remove two players from their roster. It creates an issue and tough decision for the Kings when looking at options when considering who has to go through waivers and which are waiver exempt.
The Kings currently have two players who are waiver-exempt this season in Andre Lee and Samuel Helenius, according to Zach Dooley of LA Kings Insider. Both have contributed this season and provided quality minutes for this team.
When looking at the bottom two lines during practice on Friday, according to Dooley, this c would seem Lee is one player likely to return to Ontario to create a roster spot being on that bottom line.
Kings with 15F and 8D on the ice today. Everyone in full-contact jerseys.
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) January 3, 2025
Top three forward lines are the same, bottom two are showing -
Moore - Helenius - Lewis
Lee - Thomas - Kaliyev
However, the other two players on that bottom line, in Akil Thomas and Arthur Kaliyev, would need to go through waivers. This would certainly be a risk for the Kings to try to pass either through waivers as another team could claim them.
The other option would be to send Helenius down to the Ontario Reign, as he is waiver exempt, and this not only allows the team to activate both players but maybe creates some ice time for Arthur Kaliyev. The former second round pick has yet to play this season and this could be an opportunity for him to play.
It will be interesting to see how Jim Hiller approaches this and what decisions are made.