Kings’ Arthur Kaliyev out indefinitely with fractured clavicle
Los Angeles Kings head coach Jim Hiller announced that winger Arthur Kaliyev will be out indefinitely with a fractured clavicle.
Injury update, per Jim Hiller.@LAKings forward Arthur Kaliyev suffered a fractured clavicle on Day 2 of camp and will be out indefinitely.
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) September 22, 2024While no specifics on how the injury occurred were revealed, Hiller did mention that it happened during Day 2 of camp. There is currently no word on when the Kings expect Kaliyev to return to the lineup, nor did they reveal when we will next get an update on his status.
The injury comes just days after Kaliyev had signed an extension with the Kings. On September 18th, he agreed to a one-year, $825,000 contract after spending most of the summer as a restricted free agent without an arbitration rights. He will be an RFA again in the summer of 2025, this time with arbitration rights.
It’s another tough bounce for Kaliyev, who needed a good start to the season after having the worst season of his career in 2023-24. In 51 regular season games, he had 7 goals and 8 assists for 15 points, nearly half of his previous point totals when he’s played at least 50 games in a season. He also did not play in any of the Kings’ playoff games as they were eliminated in the first round in five games by the Edmonton Oilers.
Kaliyev was the second-round pick for the Kings in the 2019 NHL draft out of the OHL. After another season in the OHL with the Hamilton Bulldogs, Kaliyev made his pro debut in the 2020-21 season with the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, and he also made his NHL debut by playing one game with the Kings that season. In 2021-22, he secured a full time roster spot on the Kings, and has remained on their NHL roster for all of the last three seasons.
The Kings will finally look to take the next step and make it to the second round of the playoffs after losing in the first round to the Oilers for three consecutive seasons. They made some changes to the team to do so by trading for Tanner Jeannott and Darcy Kuemper, as well as signing Warren Foegele and Joel Edmundson. They have nearly $1.3 million in salary cap space with no RFAs left to re-sign.