Kings place D Kale Clague on waivers

Per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Los Angeles Kings placed defenseman Kale Clague on waivers Friday.

This is Clague’s second time on waivers this season. The Kings waived him on Oct. r 2, prior to the start of the season, and he passed through unclaimed.

With Drew Doughty returning from injured reserve earlier this week and the re-acquisition of Christian Wolanin on waivers, the Kings had nine defensemen on the active roster. It’s telling that the team opted to expose Clague to the rest of the league rather than send down Michael Anderson, Tobias Bjornfot or Sean Durzi, all of whom do not require waivers.

Clague’s performed well at the minor-league level in recent seasons, including four assists in five games with the AHL’s Ontario Reign this year, but hasn’t been able to play his way into a full-time NHL role just yet. There’s likely still a bright future ahead for the 23-year-old, who was drafted 51st overall by the Kings in 2016.

In 11 games with the big club this season, Clague has five points in 11 games while registering a -2 rating and averaging 17:49 per game.