The Los Angeles Kings have announced that winger Carl Grundstrom will not return to Tuesday’s game against the Buffalo Sabres due to a lower-body injury.
Grundstrom, 26, skated just one shift early in the second period before returning to the locker room, and did not return to the game. It’s unclear as to what caused the injury, or how severe it is, but with the Kings down 3-0 to the Sabres at the time of his departure, and 5-0 by the end of the second period, there was no point in risking worsening the injury even more in a blowout. He had just one shot on net in 3:43 of ice time in the game, with the Kings eventually losing 7-0.
Grundstrom’s had another solid season, with 8 goals and 4 assists for 12 points in 50 games on the year. Assuming that he doesn’t miss any time with the injury and is healthy for the rest of the season, he’s on pace for 19 points, which would tie his career-high that he set in 2022-23, although that came in just 57 games.
During these past two seasons of career-high paces for Grundstrom, he’s become a solid goal-scorer in the league as well. Since 2022-23, his 0.94 5v5 goals per 60 minutes is tied for 75th in the league among forwards with at least 1,000 minutes of ice time.
Grundstrom was originally a second-round pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs in the 2016 NHL Draft, although he never cracked their NHL roster and just played parts of three seasons in the AHL with the Toronto Marlies before he was dealt to the Kings during the 2018-19 season as part of the return for Jake Muzzin. The Umea, Sweden product ended up playing 15 games for the Kings that season, and has mostly been a staple in their lineup for the past six seasons.
Grundstrom is currently in the final year of a two-year contract with a $1.3 million cap hit, and will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights in the 2024 offseason.
The Kings currently sit in fourth in the Pacific Division with a 24-16-10 record, good enough for the first wild card spot in the Western Conference. They will look to rebound from their blowout loss to the Sabres when they visit New Jersey to play the Devils on Thursday at 7 p.m. EST.
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