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Los Angeles Kings winger Arthur Kaliyev is out indefinitely. As the Kings assess their top prospects ahead of 2024-25, Kaliyev suffered a fractured clavicle on Day 2 of training camp. Kings head coach Jim Hiller delivered the update on his injury, per LA Kings insider Zach Dooley’s X, formerly Twitter.
“Injury update, per Jim Hiller,” Dooley reported. “Forward Arthur Kaliyev suffered a fractured clavicle on Day 2 of camp and will be out indefinitely.”
The news of Kaliyev’s injury is a tough blow this early into training camp, especially after the 23-year-old inked a one-year, $825,000 contract on Wednesday. He was a restricted free agent ahead of the 2024-25 campaign.
Arthur Kaliyev scored seven goals and 15 points in 51 games last season. LA selected him in the second round of the 2019 NHL Draft.
Quinton Byfield positioned for a breakout season with the Kings
After losing 4-1 to the Edmonton Oilers in the Stanley Cup playoffs’ opening round, the Kings will look for a breakout player from within to help take them to the next level in the upcoming season. One of those players is center Quinton Byfield, a 22-year-old youngster who has yet to reach his full potential.
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The Kings signed Byfield to a 5-year, $31.25 million extension during the offseason. He’s also reprised his role as the team’s center in 2024-25 after playing winger with Anze Kopitar and Adrian Kempe for the past two seasons. The line was a success. However, to maximize Byfield’s growth this season, moving him back to center was inevitable for Kings head coach Hiller, per Dooley.
“We really have seen Q for a long time to get [back to] center,” Hiller said. “He was drafted as a centerman. I thought he did a nice job establishing himself on the wing with Kopi, but Q, in our minds, is a centerman, and he will be for a long time. There’s no trial period here, we’re not testing him out, Q is a center and he’s going to be doing it for a long time.”
Still, Byfield admits, it was an adjustment between the offseason and the beginning of training camp.
“I think as the summer went on, it was more so I was trying to work on timing in the middle during those drills, getting away from wing,” Byfield said. “Just working back at center ice, I feel like everything’s going to come back naturally, and it’ll all work out.”
The Kings begin their preseason schedule Monday night against the Utah Hockey Club.
