Photo Credit: John Locher/AP
With training camp just around the corner, we are previewing each player on the LA Kings roster. Up next, Jacob Moverare!
Jacob Moverare
Biography
Birthdate: August 31, 1998
Birthplace: Ostersund, Sweden
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 200 lbs
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Draft: 4th round, 112th overall, 2016 NHL Entry Draft
2021-2022 Season
After an impressive AHL debut in the 2020-21 season, Jacob Moverare was expected to play significant minutes in a largely steady, shut-down role on the Ontario Reign blueline. He did precisely that. Moverare wasn’t one to ever light up the score sheet, rather known more for his calming presence in his own zone and his patience with the puck in making a first pass. He did chip in a modest 10 points in 30 AHL games in Ontario last season.
His style of play easily translates to the NHL, despite not being an elite skater on the back end. In January, he got the call to Los Angeles. Moverare would play 19 NHL games and proved to be a reliable piece to the defense, finishing with a 54% CF% at 5-on-5 (per Natural Stat Trick). The strength of his game, whether in Ontario or with the LA Kings, has been his zone exits.
In those 19 games with the Kings, he only picked up two assists, but one of them was an example of his ability to make a strong outlet pass in transition:
2022-23 Outlook
Moverare is very much in the mix to make the opening night roster for the LA Kings. As things stand right now, the left side of the defense group includes a still unsigned Mikey Anderson (that’s happening any day now, right?), Tobias Bjornfot, and Alex Edler. I think there’s a very strong case to be made that he is a better option than Bjornfot to start the season or, at least, be kept on as a seventh defenseman.
After Anderson, things get pretty thin, pretty quickly on the left side. Between Bjornfot’s slow start to his career and the aging (though reliable) Edler not likely expected to play every night, Moverare should have a role in the NHL in 2022-23.
This summer, the Kings signed Moverare to a two-year deal worth $1.525 million. Should the team decide he will not make the opening night roster, he will need to clear waivers to be sent down to Ontario. This is a similar situation to what he was in last year, though, with Olli Maatta no longer around; it seems likely the 24-year-old Swede will be in LA.