Los Angeles Kings forward Viktor Arvidsson will be out for the foreseeable future with a back injury. The injury occurred on Monday, October 16 during practice and was subsequently placed on long-term injured reserve.
Los Angeles Kings Arvidsson Out Indefinitely
The original diagnosis is that he may need another back surgery. He had a similar issue last season, which required him to have a microdoscectomy procedure to fix a herniated disk. Arvidsson missed a chunk of last season due to this procedure.
Arvidsson was drafted by the Nashville Predators 122nd overall in the 2014 NHL Draft. He was then traded to Los Angeles for a 2022 3rd round pick (Scott Morrow) on July 1, 2021. Last season, he scored 26 goals and added 33 assists for 59 points in 77 games.
What does this mean going forward and what happens to the power play? Arthur Kaliyev is back from a suspension that costs him 2 preseason games and 2 regular season games. He will fill that void on the power play and the offense left by Arvidsson’s departure. Arvidsson may miss the entire 2023-24 season but should be fully recovered for the start of training camp next season. This is an injury that the Kings did not need this early in the season, However, thanks to their depth, this injury will not hurt as much position wise.Aside from Kaliyev, rookie Alex Laferriere is a player in his rookie year who is playing extremely well in his short stint.
With the procedure Arvidsson will have to go through, we should all hope this fixes the situation he has going on. He has been great offensively for the Kings organization so he will be missed on the ice. Kaliyev and Laferriere will have big shoes to fill offensively as Los Angeles marches towards another playoff spot. The Kings are currently 2-2-1 for five points and are in third place, seven points behind the division leading Vegas Golden Knights, who are 6-0-0 for 12 points.
The Kings take on the Arizona Coyotes in a back-to-back, home-and-home series this Tuesday and Wednesday. They then play the Golden Knights at crypto.com arena on Saturday. They travel to Toronto to take on the Maple Leafs on October 31, then travel to Ottawa to take on the Senators on November 2. The next home game would not take place until November 9 against the Pittsburgh Penguins.
(photo: lakingsinsider.com; Zach Dooley) (photo: lakingsinsider.com; Zach Dooley)
