LA Kings to sign Jamie McBain to help depleted blueline
During their 5-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday, the Los Angeles Kings were limited to only five defensemen for the game. A salary cap squeeze, compounded by Slava Voynov’s suspension, caused the team to be $160 (!) short of being able to make a call-up.
Along with Voynov’s paid absence from the lineup, Robyn Regehr is dealing with a lower-body injury, opening the door for general manager Dean Lombardi to sign Jamie McBain, who had been on a PTO with the Kings’ AHL affiliate in Manchester.
According to Lisa Dillman of the LA Times, McBain won’t be officially signed until Tuesday when the Kings have some extra cap space open up to allow the defenseman’s $550,000 contract on their books.
It’s been a busy few weeks for McBain, who went to training camp on a PTO with the Arizona Coyotes. When he was cut, he went back home to Minnesota to skate at his father’s rink and stay in shape, while waitnig for a phone call. Manchester called, and now 10 days later he’s an emergency fill-in as the Kings wait to see how long Regehr might be out, as well as whether Voynov will face domestic violence charges.
Speaking of Voynov, he spent time after the Kings practice on Monday skating with associate head coach John Stevens. During his suspension, he's allowed to work out on his own but cannot participate in team-related activities.
- - - - - - -
Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
More from Yahoo Hockey:
