Vegas Golden Knights claim Tobias Bjornfot on waivers

The Vegas Golden Knights have claimed defenseman Tobias Bjornfot off of waivers from the Los Angeles Kings.

The Kings placed Bjornfot, 22, on waivers on Wednesday to send him to the AHL to make room for Brandt Clarke on their roster. The Golden Knights add Bjornfot to their roster amidst a few injuries on their blueline in Shea Theodore, Kaedan Korczak and Daniil Miromanov.

Bjornfot hasn’t played a lot of hockey so far this season, getting into only one game with the Kings in their season opener against the Colorado Avalanche with no points in that game. He’s also played nine games in the AHL with the Ontario Reign while on a conditioning loan earlier in the season, where he was also held pointless.

Bjornfot was the 22nd overall selection of the Kings in the 2019 NHL Draft, and had spent the entirety of his five-season professional career in the Kings organization until Thursday’s waiver claim. He’s currently in the first year of a two-year contract with a $775,000 cap hit, one he signed in the 2023 offseason with the Kings.

Based on the projected lines for the Golden Knights based on Thursday’s morning skate, Bjornfot is not expected to make his debut with the team for their game against the Florida Panthers. Whether Bjornfot will get into any game action with the Golden Knights or i he will just be serving as depth insurance for the team while their blueline injuries heal before being sent down to the minors remains to be seen.

The Golden Knights will look to snap a streak of five losses in six games when they host the Panthers on Thursday night at 10 p.m. EST. They currently sit in second place in the Pacific Division with a 22-11-5 record, and are just two points behind the Vancouver Canucks for the division lead, although the Canucks have a game in hand.