Trevor Moore’s unlucky 2022-23 campaign hit another bump in the road when the Los Angeles Kings moved him back onto the injured reserve on Tuesday with an upper-body issue.
The trip to the IR will be Moore’s second in short order. The forward returned from an injury earlier this month that he suffered in December, only to be hurt again after L.A.’s loss to the Minnesota Wild on Feb. 21.
The Kings would have hoped Moore’s Feb. 11 return from his earlier injury would strengthen their pursuit of the Pacific Division’s No. 1 seed. Instead, the 27-year-old is sidelined again with just 21 games left.
In Moore’s absence, his high-leverage role as a top-six winger will most likely go to 20-year-old Quinton Byfield, who has seen playtime alongside Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe.
Moore’s recent injury luck is concerning for L.A. both on and off the ice; just a week before his initial injury against the Arizona Coyotes, Moore agreed to a five-year, $21 million extension with the Kings.
While Moore is a solid two-way player who has averaged around half a point per game since arriving in L.A. during the 2019-20 season, his recent health record will not fill the organization with confidence over their investment.
In a corresponding move, Carl Grundstrom will return from an IR stint of his own that lasted 16 games. Grundstrom is also a winger, but typically occupies a bottom-six role for the Kings.
Grundstrom has played regularly in the NHL for the Kings since 2020 and was rewarded for a solid standout showing in last season’s playoffs with a two-year, $2.6 million extension.
The Kings play the Winnipeg Jets Tuesday night at 8 p.m. ET in a game that has playoff implications for both clubs. They will seek to close the two-point gap between themselves and the Pacific-leading Las Vegas Golden Knights during a soft homestand against the Canadiens, Blues and Capitals over the next week.
More must-reads: