LOS ANGELES -- On Friday afternoon, the NHL announced the Los Angeles Kings forward Tanner Jeannot would be suspended for three games for his hit on Brock Boeser Thursday night.
Los Angeles’ Tanner Jeannot has been suspended for three games for an illegal check to the head against Vancouver’s Brock Boeser. https://t.co/ahC7rFox9F
— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) November 8, 2024
The suspension should come as no surprise. It was a bad play from Jeannot that warranted supplemental discipline. Losing an every-night player is never ideal, but this hurts even more for a Kings team already missing a few players.
Alex Turcotte has missed the last two games with an undisclosed injury and Mikey Anderson's status for Saturday's game is still questionable, on top of missing both Drew Doughty and Arthur Kaliyev to long-term injuries.
So, what are LA's options for the next three games?
If Anderson can play, the Kings could utilize the 11-7 alignment they favored down the stretch last season, cycling one of Caleb Jones or Andreas Englund into the lineup. This team is comfortable rolling with that alignment and it would give more ice time to players like Quinton Byfield, Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala.
They also wouldn't need to call anyone up from Ontario, or if they did that player wouldn't have to play. Both Jones and Englund are capable NHLers who can fill a role for the next three games.
If Anderson can play I wouldn't be surprised to see Jim Hiller utilize the 11-7.
If Anderson can't play you're likely looking at a call-up situation. There are a few options, namely Jack Studnicka and Samuel Fagemo. Studnicka is the more experienced of the two and can play both center and wing, but might be behind Fagemo in the pecking order. Fagemo recently caught fire in Ontario and currently leads the Reign in points, we know about Fagemo's goal-scoring at the AHL level but he's never been able to replicate that in the NHL and his inability to play a more traditional bottom-six role has landed him as a tweener player in the Kings organization.
Between those two options, Studnicka seems the best option to replace Jeannot short term. While he doesn't bring the same physicality to the game, he's a big body who throws his weight around and can more reliably fill a fourth-line role.
Speaking of filling a physical fourth-line role, there's an outside chance Samuel Helenius gets a look with Jeannot out of the lineup. Like Jeannot, Helenius plays with a mean streak and isn't afraid to drop the gloves in defense of his teammates.
I don't think Helenius is ready, and a fourth line of Andre Lee-Trevor Lewis-Samuel Helenius would potentially be the worst line in the NHL, but Helenius is arguably the most like-for-like swap the Kings have.
In a perfect world, Anderson is available and they won't have to rely on reinforcements from Ontario, however, if they do I'd expect one of Studnicka or Fagemo to draw in.