The Los Angeles Kings, parent club of the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs, have assigned goaltender Jason LaBarbera and right wing Lauri Tukonen to Manchester.
LaBarbera, 26, won the Les Cunningham Award as the most valuable player in the American Hockey League in 2003-04, when he went 34-9-9 with a minuscule 1.59 goals-against average and a league-record 13 shutouts for the Hartford Wolf Pack.
Originally selected by the New York Rangers in the third round of the 1998 NHL Entry Draft, LaBarbera signed with the Kings as an unrestricted free agent on Aug. 2, 2005, and went 11-9-2 with a 2.89 GAA in 29 NHL appearances for the Kings last season.
Tukonen, 20, scored a goal in his only appearance with Los Angeles this preseason. The 11th overall pick in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft, Tukonen recorded 14 goals and 22 assists for 36 points in 62 games with Manchester in 2005-06.
