The LA Kings are filling out their depth for next season. Knowing goaltending is going to be tested next season, they added Troy Grosenick, the 2017 AHL goaltender of the year. They also added defender Mark Alt from the Colorado Eagles and two pending restricted free agents accepted their qualifying offers.
Here’s a quick glance at the the depth moves the Kings have made:
Mark Alt, RD
1 year at $700,000
A 29-year-old defender, Mark Alt was initially drafted 53rd overall by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. His rights were traded to the Philadelphia Flyers while he played three seasons with the University of Minnesota’s Golden Gophers. Alt has been an AHL regular, even after being trade to the Colorado Avalanche at the 2018 trade deadline. He served as the captain of the AHL’s Colorado Eagles for the last two seasons.
In 376 AHL games, Alt has tallied 110 points (28 goals, 82 assists). He has gone scoreless over his 18 games of NHL experience.
Troy Grosenick, G
1 year at $700,000
The 31-year-old Troy Grosenick went undrafted, signing an entry-level contract with the Sharks after his third year with Union College. He spent five seasons with the organization’s AHL affiliate (first, the Worcester Sharks, then the San Jose Barracuda when the club moved in 2015). In the 2016-17 season, he represented the Pacific Division at the AHL All-Star Game and won the Aldege “Baz” Bastien Memorial Award as the AHL’s best goaltender. The next season, he was traded to the Nashville Predators.
Over eight years in the AHL, Grosenick has played 254 games, with a goals against average of 2.52 and a save percentage of .912. He’s played just two career NHL games, a split win/loss with a serious small sample size average save percentage of .948.
Austin Strand, RD
1 year at $735,000
Another undrafted player, the Kings signed 23-year-old Austin Strand to an entry-level contract in November 2017 while he was in his fourth WHL season, and second with the Seattle Thunderbirds, where he was an alternate captain. That season, he racked up an impressive 25 goals and 39 assists over 69 games. But he’s struggled a bit in the AHL, briefly spending time with the ECHL Manchester Monarchs during the 2018-19 season. Last season, he put up just 15 points over 41 games.
Bokondji Imama, LW
1 year at $735,000
Drafted in the fifth round of the 2015 NHL Draft by the Tampa Bay Lightning, the Kings acquired the rights to Bokondji Imama in exchange for a 2018 seventh-round draft pick two years later. He’s since played three seasons with the Ontario Reign, as well as a 13-game stint in the ECHL with the Monarchs. Once the alternate captain to a QMJHL Championship-winning team, Imama has struggled to bring his best with the Reign. Last year was a career high 14 points in 50 games.
But he did beat the tar out of Brandon Manning after he used a racial slur on the ice and that’s the kind of guy I want in the NHL.