Kings’ Joel Armia leaves game against Oilers with upper-body injury
Los Angeles Kings forward Joel Armia left Thursday’s game against the Edmonton Oilers and did not return due to an upper-body injury.
The Kings announced the reason for Armia’s departure midway through the second period of Thursday’s game at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles.
Armia, 32, logged 4:46 of ice time over seven shifts before leaving the game. The 6’3″ winger entered the game with 10 goals and 20 points while averaging 14:31 of ice time through 52 games this season.
The Kings trailed the Oilers by a 5-1 score after two periods of their game on Thursday evening.
Forward Joel Armia will not return to tonight’s game due to an upper-body injury.
Armia most recently suited up for six games with Team Finland at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, collecting three goals and eight points to help the Finns win a bronze medal. The Pori, Finland product previously represented his country at the 4 Nations Face-Off in 2025.
The Kings originally signed Armia to a two-year, $2.5 million-AAV contract as an unrestricted free agent on July 1, 2025. The veteran winger has done his job in Los Angeles this season, although the Kings currently sit just outside the playoff picture in the Western Conference.
A first-round pick (No. 16 overall) of the Buffalo Sabres in the 2011 NHL Draft, Armia made his NHL debut with the club in the 2014-15 season. That same year, the Sabres included Armia in a major blockbuster trade with the Winnipeg Jets that also involved Tyler Myers, Drew Stafford, Evander Kane, and Zach Bogosian.
Armia emerged as a regular NHLer over parts of three seasons with the Jets, helping the club reach the Western Conference Final in 2018, before being traded to the Montreal Canadiens in a salary-clearing move ahead of the 2018-19 season. He spent seven seasons in Montreal, scoring a career-high 30 points in 2019-20 and appearing in 21 playoff games the following year as the Habs mounted a Cinderella run to the Stanley Cup Final.
Through 639 games over parts of 12 seasons split between the Sabres, Jets, Canadiens, and Kings, Armia has collected 113 goals and 227 points. He’s added 10 goals and 17 points in 49 career playoff contests.