During the offseason, the Oilers and Kings indirectly swapped forwards through the free agency portal. LA would land Warren Foegele, a fast, good-sized, all-around complimentary player. Edmonton landed Viktor Arvidsson, a more undersized forward with elite vision on the powerplay and great 2-way sense.
With these two pickups, it would seem that Edmonton took more of the gamble. In Los Angeles, Foegele has carried over the same play he had the season prior with the Oilers without the superstar talent surrounding him while up North.
Up North, it seems that Rob Blake was onto something, given the number of injuries that started to pile up while Arvidsson was in Los Angeles. Following the thread is unfortunate for the franchise and player, but it is all too familiar of a storyline for those following the Kings.
First, Arvidsson was injured (undisclosed) on November 29th, and his release said he would miss the next three games. Then, as recently as December 5th, head coach Kris Knoblauch said there was no timeframe for his return.
For Kings fans, this is Déjà Vu. Unfortunately for the Oilers, this is a holding pattern without guidelines or expectancy. When healthy, Arvidsson is a gamer and an all-around impact forward, making the Oilers exceptionally more dangerous in the lineup than out. It's a loss for hockey for Arvidsson to be hurt, as he couldn't get going offensively when healthy (16gp, 2g, 3a, 5p +2).
In the indirect movement between the two clubs, Foegele shines quite brightly compared to the Arvidsson dilemma in Edmonton.
Foegele operates at nearly a .5 point per game this season thus far (27gp, 7g, 6a, for 13p). He did so in his career-best season the year before with the Oil (82gp, 20g, 21a, 41p). Foegele does so while assuming the same duties on the penalty kill and not seeing any time on the powerplay. He's strictly put up points at even strength.
However, his most significant jump in LA has been on the penalty kill.
Foegele has been a shorthanded threat amongst the best killers in the league without the finishing. Via Moneypuck.com, among all forwards who have spent at least 40 minutes on the kill this season, he leads the league in shots on goal per 60 (9.7), leads in shot attempts per 60 (16.63), and is tied for the league lead in Corsi and Fenwick shorthanded with Quinton Byfield (32% /37%).
The pair of Foegele and Byfield has become a concrete pairing that has solidified the Kings' meandering top nine, which has yet to find solidified trios in their top nine group this year. Finding their top two duos has not been a problem until this season. The staples of duos have traditionally been Phillip Danault, Trevor Moore, Adrian Kempe, and Anze Kopitar.
Moore has been seeing top-line time while the Kings look for a complementary piece to play with Kopitar and Kempe. During this time, we witness the pleasant surprise of Alex Laferriere getting playing time next to Danault.
Because of his overall play and his ability to build chemistry, Foegele finally gave the Kings the third duo option with Byfield they've been looking for down the lineup.
So, while stepping away from Arvidsson in the offseason was a necessary way to shed salary off the cap, it also removed a very productive top-six winger for the Kings and a powerplay producer who looks sorely needed in this season's souring LA powerplay. What the Kings got in free agency wasn't a full complement to replace a healthy Arvidsson; Foegele has been producing in his own right while being slightly cheaper to deploy onto the ice.
The hockey world hopes for a swift return of Arvidsson, as he would add an excellent element to that lineup. But the indirect Foegele for Arvidsson swap for Blake and company looks like a massive win while Arvidsson's health remains up in the air.