Frankie says relax

The Kings will just run with 3 goaltenders for the first couple weeks of the season so they won't have to subject him to waivers while teams are looking to fill out their rosters. Unless Colorado is willing to run without a backup for a bit, Rittich probably won't be available at season start.

Unless Frankie is out for a decent chunk of the season, I think they'll end up just going with Annunen for a bit. Or they'll pick up someone else from waivers. It doesn't have to be Rittich, although he is one option.

It wouldn't be the worst thing for LA if the Avs did pick him up, as whoever they get is almost sure to go back on waivers whenever Frankie is ready. So it's almost just a loan.

The same thing happened to the Kings a few years ago with Grosenick when the Oilers needed a backup when one of their goaltenders went down with an injury. They had to run one goaltender in the AHL for a while without a viable backup or an available option for recall to cover for injuries. Villalta was very much not NHL ready.

They learned their lesson from that situation. They don't want to be without a AHL call-up goaltender in the event one of Talbot or Copley are injured. Portillo made his Kings debut at the rookie tournament in Vegas yesterday and was the worst player on the ice for either team.

I think Annunen is close enough to ready that the Avs don't need to panic.

Frankie goes to HollyLTIR for a while?