The Kings announced that winger Viktor Arvidsson was activated from long-term injured reserve Wednesday. As such, he’s eligible to return to the lineup Wednesday against the Wild.
With $4.46M remaining in their LTIR salary pool, the Kings have just enough space to activate his $4.25M cap hit.
Arvidsson, 30, was moved to LTIR on Feb. 24 after a two-day stint on standard IR. The veteran forward’s latest lower-body injury came just four games after making his season debut in mid-February. He had sustained back and lower-body injuries during training camp that cost him the first 50 games of the season.
Now ready to go, Arvidsson is expected to slot into a third-line role alongside Pierre-Luc Dubois and Alex Laferriere in his return, not the line with Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore he played on last month.
It’s impossible to glean much from such a small sample — especially since he played just 17 seconds in his most recent outing — but Arvidsson looked like his consistent top-six self with two assists. His possession numbers were strong, posting a 53.6 xGF% with Danault and Moore (per MoneyPuck) and, individually, a similarly strong 58.1 CF% at even strength.
He’s coming off the fifth 20-goal season of his career in 2022-23, when he totaled 59 points in 77 games while averaging 17:06 per game in an integral second-line role for Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, injuries have plagued Arvidsson throughout his 10-year career, as he’s only eclipsed the 70-game mark three times. Before last year, when all of his absences were due to illness or personal reasons, Arvidsson missed games due to injury in every season from 2016-21.
Getting Arvidsson back into the fold helps boost the depth of an offense that hasn’t had much punch this year, ranking 19th in the league and second-to-last among teams currently in playoff position.
Dubois’ underwhelming showing in the third-line center role (33 points in 68 games) is a major reason for that, although extended ice time with a consistent scoring threat like Arvidsson may boost his numbers down the stretch.
Without Arvidsson for much of the year, the Kings have still managed to ride out a shockingly poor mid-season stretch of play and a coaching change and are holding onto third place in the Pacific Division, two points ahead of the Vegas Golden Knights.
His play down the stretch will also go a long way toward setting his market value on the UFA market this summer — he’s nearing completion of a seven-year, $29.75M deal signed with the Predators in 2017 and does not have an extension.
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