Lightning claim Pheonix Copley off waivers from Kings

None of the other 36 players placed on conditional waivers on Wednesday were claimed by another team. Christian Jaros, who was placed on unconditional waivers, also cleared, meaning that his contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets has been terminated.

Copley found himself on waivers due to being the clear-cut third goaltender on the Kings’ depth chart. With Darcy Kuemper set to be the starting goaltender after being a Vezina finalist in 2024-25 and Los Angeles signing Anton Forsberg to a two-year contract with a $2.25 million cap hit in the summer, their tandem for the 2025-26 season was set, leaving Copley as the odd man out.

With the Lightning, Copley may find himself with the chance to earn more NHL starts. While Andrei Vasilevskiy is far and away the starter for Tampa Bay and will get a majority of the playing time, Jonas Johansson has struggled in two seasons with the Bolts with an .893 save percentage and a -5.66 5v5 goals saved above expected.

If Copley can be a more stable backup option for the Lightning, that may also help lighten Vasilevskiy’s workload and allow him to be better rested for the playoffs. Regardless, Copley is a solid third option to have in net for Tampa.

Copley spent a majority of his 2024-25 season in the AHL with the Ontario Reign, where he had a 24-17-1 record, a .904 SV% and two shutouts. He also had an 0-2-0 record and a .920 SV% in two playoff games.

Copley did get into one NHL game in 2024-25, where he stopped 10 of 12 shots in relief of David Rittich in a 6-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Copley had re-signed with the Kings over the summer to a one-year, $775,000 contract.

Originally an undrafted signing out of college by the Washington Capitals in March 2014, Copley spent parts of two seasons with the Caps organization before he was dealt to the St. Louis Blues in the 2015 offseason as part of the return for T.J. Oshie. It was there that he made his NHL debut in the 2015-16 season, overall playing two games with St. Louis across two seasons before he was traded back to the Capitals in the Kevin Shattenkirk trade at the 2017 trade deadline.

Copley spent another six seasons with the Capitals, including one year as the backup behind Braden Holtby in 2018-19, before he walked to free agency in 2022, signing with the Kings. He had spent the past three seasons with L.A., and even had a brief stint as their starting goaltender in the 2022-23 season.