Day 12 Notes – Same alignment today + Focus shifts to penalty kill, Kopitar/Danault split, Arvidsson

Good M̶o̶r̶n̶i̶n̶g̶, A̶f̶t̶e̶r̶n̶o̶o̶n̶, Evening Insiders!

Seriously, from the time I started this article to finally posted it, we’ve shifted the time of day twice.

The Kings were back on the ice for the second straight practice day, in advance of another set of back-to-back exhibition games tomorrow and Wednesday.

For the second straight day, we saw the Kings closer to their end-of-camp number of 23, with 25 players on the ice this morning for the NHL club.

Here’s how the Kings lined up this morning –

Arvidsson – Kopitar – Brown
Iafallo – Danault – Kempe
Tkachev – Vilardi – Andersson
Moore – Byfield – Wagner
Grundstrom – Lizotte – Lemieux

Anderson – Doughty
Bjornfot – Roy
Edler – Walker
Wolanin – Strand

Petersen / Quick

If you’re keeping track at home, that’s two thus far, Shooter. AKA, two days in a row with the same lineup. The Kings are still missing two players who are expected to be a part of the Opening Night 23, with Andreas Athanasiou and Olli Maatta missing out today. As reported yesterday, both players are currently injured, with Maatta likely needing a “couple days” per McLellan, after taking a big hit in Vegas, while Athanasiou is currently a question mark for Opening Night, with an upper-body injury.

Neither are expected to play tomorrow or Wednesday, but the plan is for Maatta to potentially feature on Saturday against Anaheim.

A Time To Penalty Kill
Yesterday, the Kings focused on the power play, with some depth, for the first time during training camp. Today, they went down a man and worked on penalty killing.

McLellan said yesterday that it was challenging for the team to work on these types of systems throughout the early stages of training camp, due to how large the roster was. When you have 60 players, broken into three groups, using your time effectively, and efficiently, to train players in those specialty situations becomes difficult.

With the team now down to 23 skaters, the time is now to work on these types of things.

Now, if we’re looking for one area where the Kings were amongst the league’s elite last season, it was the penalty kill. At 84.9%, the Kings ranked fifth in the NHL last season while down a man, their best total since the 2017-18 season (85.0%) and their second-best total since 2011-12.

Here’s what Anze Kopitar and Todd McLellan had to say about carrying success over from last season.

Kopitar
I mean, there’s obviously a whole bunch of pieces that go into that, starting off with good pre-scouts and Trent [Yawney] doing all of the video work, putting the game plan together. Then, it’s us going on the ice and executing that stuff. You’re playing better against certain teams, while certain teams give you a little bit more trouble, so it’s just getting out there, knowing what you’ve got to do, knowing what the other team’s strengths are and try to limit time and space.

McLellan
[Our group] picked up some concepts that had given us trouble the year prior. It’s getting clear, we’re going into Year 3, it’s getting clearer and clearer how players should act on the ice, which dangerous areas on the ice we’re trying to take away. Obviously, with some new players, it’s an early challenge in the season to get them up to speed, but Danault, Arvidsson, Edler, if they penalty kill, they’re experienced, they’re comfortable in doing that. I just think it’s evolution more than anything, where four pieces come together rather than one doing one thing and the others guessing. It just takes time, and that’s what happened last year.

The Kings Head Coach also expanded on the additions to the personnel available this season. The talk about the organization’s offseason acquisitions are the benefits to providing more quality and depth up front, but all three veterans acquired are also accomplished penalty killers.

Edler led all players last season in shorthanded time on ice, while Danault was amongst the league leaders by a forward. While he was less involved last season, Arvidsson led the NHL with 10 shorthanded goals from 2016-18, spanning three seasons. All three players bring qualities that are valued on the penalty kill, and all three could contribute there this season.

“Certainly, we consider them to be very valuable on that side of the puck,” McLellan said. “You look at Danault, his ability to win faceoffs, we certainly believe his number can stay high. Kopi doesn’t always have to be the guy that takes them, he can give him a little bit of a rest. On the penalty kill, if you can win a faceoff, odds are, you’re killing the penalty. Edler, with his ability to read plays, shot blocking, experience, he’s calm, he brings a sense of security to everybody else that’s on the ice in that situation. Arvy’s done it in the past, he’s got some tenacity to him, he’s a very quick, smart offensive player who can make reads and sometimes that’s a really good quality as well on the penalty kill.”

Da-nault Doubt About It
Looking more specifically into Danault’s presence on the Kings, there’s been a resounding notion that he will be a guy who can come in and relieve some of the burden on Kopitar.

“I think Danault can come in and accept that role,” McLellan said, earlier in training camp. “Last year, we had very capable and young centermen coming up, different flavors if you will, with size or skill. That’s a lot to ask of inexperienced players to do, and Phil has that experience to do it. He’s signed for a long time, he’ll do it now and he’ll do it later and he takes pride in doing it.”

McLellan indicated today that, over the next three games, we’ll get our first taste of the two centers playing in the same lineup, for the first time, giving a sense during the preseason here of how, potentially, they could be deputized, though McLellan also noted that matching lines and personnel during the preseason isn’t a priority.

While there is the potential of seeing Kopitar relieved of some of his defensive duties, the Kings captain knows that, for the Kings to be successful this season, it’s not one or the other. Both players will need to be at their best defensively, forming a 1-2 punch down the middle.

“If we want to go where we want to go, I’m going to have to play the 200-foot game, it’s not just hands-off on the defensive side,’ he said. “I’ll play much of the same, of my game, and Phil’s going to play his game, and hopefully we can be a good 1-2 punch.”

The key is seeing both centers, two of the top, two-way forwards in the NHL, doing their thing at the same time. If that is in fact the case, it gives the Kings a ton of flexibility with how they choose to deploy their personnel, especially against teams that have depth and quality offensive players on more than one line.

Kopitar estimated that the separation, and distribution, will likely come with time. How it shakes down could change game to game, or even within a game. That’s the flexibility the Kings now have.

“Just spread it out, maybe a key faceoff here and there, but sometimes that depends on how the night is going, individually in the faceoff circle,” he noted. “We’ll see how it goes. We haven’t played a game together yet, so I haven’t experienced it yet.”

From a personal standpoint, Kopitar has enjoyed the personality, and the energy, that Danault has brought to the group. Having previously heard similar things about forward Viktor Arvidsson, that’s encouraging to hear about your largest offseason acquisitions.

“Phil is a really nice guy, I don’t think I’ve seen him yet without a smile on his face, and that says a lot. He brings the energy, the good spirits, with him every morning and that rubs off on everybody. He’s been in the league for a little bit, had quite a bit of success and we’re definitely happy to have him here.”

Viktory Lap
Speaking of Arvidsson!

We also spoke with the Kings winger today, on a number of different topics. Hear from Arvidsson on how he’s slotted in playing with a duo that has played together for a while in Kopitar and Dustin Brown, his preferred roles on the power play, his general thoughts on how he and the team are progressing throughout training camp, his first with the Kings.

Video Linked HERE if embed does not work!