Rookie Cammalleri Is Sent to Minors

This is not what Michael Cammalleri expected when he signed with the Kings two months ago, giving up his senior season at the University of Michigan: a red-eye flight home to Toronto late Monday night to gather himself and then on to Manchester, N.H., to join the Kings’ team in the American Hockey League.

Cammalleri and Jared Aulin were among three players reassigned Monday by the Kings, leaving only one of the club’s ballyhooed foursome of off-season rookie forward signings, Russian right wing Alexander Frolov, still on the roster. Cammalleri and Aulin will join Yanick Lehoux, who was shipped out last week.

Also sent to Manchester was rookie defenseman Joe Corvo.

“I thought I had a pretty strong camp ... and thought I was progressively getting better,� said Cammalleri, who had been considered a strong candidate to join one of the Kings’ top two lines. “But I guess decisions have been made.�

They were made based on performance, Coach Andy Murray said.

“At this point, if we’re being fair in analyzing the camp from Day 1, we feel we have some players that are playing better than them,� he said of the rookies. “It’s not so much them coming up short. It’s other guys stepping up.�

Among the 32 players remaining are four rookie forwards, one of them Scott Barney, 23, who sat out the last three seasons because of back injuries. The others are Frolov and enforcers Kip Brennan and Ryan Flinn. Derek Bekar, a 27-year-old veteran of one NHL game, also made Monday’s cut.

Twenty forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders remain on the roster, including defenseman Aaron Miller, who will start the season on injured reserve, and rookie goaltender B.J. Boxma, who will be reassigned shortly.

The final cuts, trimming the roster to 23, are expected next week.