The Los Angeles Kings are expected to play short-handed Tuesday night when they take on the Philadelphia Flyers at Wells Fargo Center.
Kings coach Darryl Sutter will have only 19 players (instead of the usual 20) at his disposal because of the team's salary cap crunch, a situation complicated by the indefinite suspension of defenseman Slava Voynov and a recent injury to key center Anze Kopitar.
With Kopitar out against the Flyers and the Kings' limited cap space (only $516,410, according to CapGeek.com), the team is unable to call up a player in advance of the game.
The matter is compounded by the current situation regarding Voynov, who is serving an indefinite suspension with a criminal investigation ongoing into his arrest last week on domestic violence charges. Because Voynov is still being paid while suspended, his $4.167 million cap hit stays on the books.
The Kings, though, should receive some temporary cap relief before their next game Thursday night against the Pittsburgh Penguins. According to Article 50.10 (e) of the collective bargaining agreement, teams are allowed to invoke the emergency roster exception after playing one game short-handed, as long as the player recalled does not have a salary that exceeds $650,000.
Although teams have dressed less than 20 players before -- it happened three times last season, according to Elias Sports Bureau -- the uncharted territory with Voynov's suspension leaves Kings general manager Dean Lombardi in a difficult position. Though Lombardi has emphatically supported the league's decision to indefinitely suspend Voynov during the criminal investigation -- the Los Angeles County District Attorney's office is still reviewing evidence and considering whether to file charges, a spokesperson told ESPN.com on Monday -- he seemed aggravated with the roster implications for the cap-strapped Kings.
"It's one thing for the player to have to pay the penalty. It's another thing for 19 other guys to have to go out there short-handed tonight," he told the Los Angeles Times.
Lombardi described the ongoing situation with Voynov as "political football," but chastised himself for not better educating his players about detrimental off-ice conduct.
"I'm more mad at myself I didn't take more time, and didn't do a better job," Lombardi told the Times. "The penalty now is now not only losing the player ... your team now pays the price."
The Kings recently completed a six-game homestand -- posting a 6-0-0 record during that span -- as they embark on a five-game road trip that features stops in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Carolina and Dallas.