Los Angeles Kings forward Carl Grundstrom hasn't seen game action since Feb. 13, suffering from a lower-body injury for most of the second half of this season.
However, it appears that Grundstrom will be returning to game action soon.
The Kings announced on Saturday that Grundstrom was being assigned to the Ontario Reign for an LTI conditioning stint.
This gives Grundstrom a chance to get a few games in before returning to NHL action. Grundstrom can finish the season with the Reign, or come up in one of the Kings' last two games.
Regardless, Grundstrom should be available for the Kings once the playoffs start.
Given Grundstrom's physicality, and the Kings' lack of physicality, this could be a big boost for the team.
He'll need to re-find his offense though, as Grundstrom had just one goal in his previous 30 games before being injured.
Obviously, there are limited expectations for fourth-line players, but that level of production isn't enough to keep you in the NHL, even if you're a physical player.
We know he can be more impactful though, we've seen him find his goal-scoring and put together some big streaks where he finds the net regularly.
Where he slots in will be interesting too, in place of Akil Thomas seems like a likely option, however, Thomas has hit the ground running and earned his spot.
Grundstrom could also slot in for Alex Laferriere, who's fallen down the pecking order a bit in recent weeks.
The Kings also have the option of returning to the 11-7 setup, leaving all three out of the lineup.
Given the nature of this loan, an LTI conditioning loan, the Kings also avoid having to add Grundstrom's cap hit back onto the books.
This gives the King's freedom to not send anyone down and then re-activate Grundstrom for the playoffs without asking him to come in cold.
I would expect Grundstrom to finish the season in Ontario because of the cap implications.