Kings release Moller to world juniors

by James Mirtle on Dec 18, 2008 12:55 PM CST Comment 4 comments

The Los Angeles Kings have re-assigned forward Oscar Moller to the Swedish Junior National Team for participation in the 2009 IIHF World Junior Championships --which will be held Dec. 26-Jan. 5 in Ottawa -- and have recalled forward Trevor Lewis from the Manchester Monarchs of the American Hockey League, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced today.

Moller is one of four Kings players/prospects scheduled to play in the upcoming World Junior Championships. Moller (Sweden) joins defenseman Thomas Hickey (Canada), defenseman Colten Teubert (Canada) and defenseman Viatcheslav Voynov (Russia) in the prestigious tournament. In addition, forward Andrei Loktionov has been invited to participate in Team Russia’s camp for this event.

>> team release

A great move by the Kings, one that more teams should really think about doing. What sense is there in having a teenager sit on an NHL bench when he could be playing against top competition for a gold medal?

Moller is averaging about 13-14 minutes a game this season, but has seen his ice time really drop in December. He still has six goals and 13 points on the year, so this isn't a completely insignificant loss.

Some players have already been sent down and will play in the tournament. Zach Boychuk, a Hurricanes prospect, and Alex Pietrangelo, from the Blues, both will skate for Canada, for example.

Sixteen players that are eligible to play in this tournament have played at least one game in the NHL, a group that includes Steve Stamkos (13:47 ice time, minus-12, three goals in 30 games), Kyle Turris (12:50 ice time), Jakub Voracek (11:53), Josh Bailey (15:24), Colton Gillies (8:51) and Brandon Sutter (10:50). Atlanta's Zach Bogosian is also eligible for Team USA, but he's still out with an injury.

Sam Gagner, Luke Schenn, Drew Doughty, Mikkel Boedker and Luca Sbisa are all playing key roles on their team but could technically play for their home countries.

There's no question in my mind at least Bailey and Gillies should be there. Why teams insist on pushing 18- and 19-year-olds these days is beyond me.

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Sbisa and Boedker

Sending these two to represent their countries would be counterproductive, as Switzerland and Denmark are at the Div. 1 stages this year, not the main event. In fact, they’d be at those tournaments right now as they run before Christmas.

Hockey blogging can't get any flatter.

by saskhab on Dec 18, 2008 2:02 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

They’re both NHL-calibre players anyway. Boedker looks phenomenal.

by James Mirtle on Dec 18, 2008 2:07 PM CST up reply actions 0 recs

The trend towards younger players is entirely cap and CBA related. With the cap in place, teams need to get production out of players on affordable contracts. Nothing says affordable quite like a rookie in the first year of his entry level deal. If that kid can produce at the same level as an older veteran, then you should keep the kid. This is especially true when you consider that unrestricted free agency now starts as young as 25. You have to make your hay while the sun shines with young players, because by age 25 they may become too expensive to keep.

by Sea Otter on Dec 18, 2008 9:12 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

Except they’d be UFAs at 27 if they stayed in junior for the two extra years, and with most players, their 20-27 years are going to be better than their 18-25 years.

by Doogie2K on Dec 20, 2008 12:02 PM CST reply actions 0 recs

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