The Los Angeles Kings will attempt to reinforce their goaltending by claiming Troy Grosenick off of waivers. He had previously been a member of the Edmonton Oilers organization. This is a minor move, but LA is fairly thin at goaltender after their primary NHL options. Elliotte Friedman announced the claim Saturday morning.
https://twitter.com/FriedgeHNIC/status/1358098678985224193?s=20
Kings Claim Troy Grosenick
The 31-year-old goaltender has almost no NHL experience to speak of despite being a professional since 2013-14. He has just two NHL games with the San Jose Sharks, both of which came in 2014-15 in his second season since leaving the NCAA ranks. He was very good in those games with a .948 save percentage and 1.52 goals-against-average, but he hasn’t found any traction at this point.
That is odd considering how successful Grosenick has been at the AHL level. His numbers don’t scream dominance, but his save percentages have been at least .900 or better in every season outside of 2015-16. His goals-against have also regularly been below 3.00 save for that same 2015-16 campaign. It’s entirely possible that Grosenick’s lack of draft pedigree and 6’1″, 190-pound frame have doomed him to the life of a third goaltender.
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What This Means for the Future
This is purely a depth move for Los Angeles. They are fairly set at goalie with Jonathan Quick and Calvin Petersen, but they don’t have much professional experience behind those two. Grosnick is likely to replace Jacob 20-year-old Jacob Ingham on the organization’s taxi squad for the moment so the younger goalie can focus on his own development.
This could be far more significant for Grosenick’s previous organization in Edmonton. Mike Smith remains on injured reserve as of right now. The taxi squad goalie is 22-year-old Stuart Skinner, who was bad in his NHL debut. The former third-round selection allowed five goals in a win over the Ottawa Senators. That results in a .868 save percentage and 5.03 goals-against-average. The Oilers’ goalie situation could be a serious challenge now that Grosenick is gone.
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