The Los Angeles Kings are back in action on Tuesday and are getting a massive boost in the return of Viktor Arvidsson.
Based on Wednesday's practice, Arvidsson will be reunited with former linemates Phil Danault and Trevor Moore shifting Kevin Fiala to the first line and Adrian Kempe to the third.
The big question with Arvidsson returning was how the Kings would afford his cap hit activating again.
Well, fortunately, and unfortunately, the Kings had two more injuries which made this a non-issue.
In announcing Arvidsson being activated off LTIR, the team announced that Carl Grundstrom and Blake Lizotte were added to LTIR, giving the team just shy of $3 million in cap relief.
It wasn't stated that Lizotte was added retroactively, meaning his 10-game/24-day clock would date back to his injury, but I wouldn't be shocked if they did that with Lizotte skating again.
Grundstrom's clock starts now, as he was injured on Tuesday against the Buffalo Sabres.
All of this means that the Kings don't have to make any difficult roster decisions yet.
The Kings don't have to decide between sending solid, waiver-exempt players like Alex Turcotte and Alex Laferriere down, or risking a player like Jaret Anderson-Dolan on waivers.
Unless there are more injuries, or they shut Grundstrom and Lizotte down until the playoffs, those decisions will have to be made, but not now.
The immediate impact isn't massive. If you look at Tuesday's lineup, you're essentially swapping Grundstrom for Arvidsson, a trade you take all day.
The only thing you really lose in that trade is physicality, but the Kings need offense more than anything right now.
Arvidsson is an objectively better player and the Kings are now a better team than they were on Tuesday.
We still have to wait and see if Arvidsson can come back anywhere close to the player he's been in the past, but if he can, the Kings are in a good spot.
This Devils game will be a trial of fire though. This has been a disappointing season for New Jersey, but they're still a good hockey team, especially with Jack Hughes back in the lineup.
The Kings need a big response and Arvidsson's return can help with that. I'd also expect Cam Talbot in net tonight after David Rittich struggled on Tuesday.
There are no more excuses for the Kings, they have close to their best roster and this is the team that Rob Blake built.