Development Camp Day 1 Recap + Laferriere, Portillo, O’Donnell Quotes

Development Camp Day 1 is in the books!

Kings Development Camp started with a pair of divided skates for the morning session. Beginning with the forwards, the group went through a number of fast-paced, puck moving and shooting drills. Following the forwards session, the defensemen took the ice and kept up the intensity, working mainly on net-front battle drills, while focusing on positioning, physicality and mobility.

Into the afternoon, the forwards and defenseman came together for an hour-long scrimmage to conclude the first day. Switching between 5-on-5 and 4-on-4 play, the high tempo, back-and-forth scrimmage produced impressive plays and goals from both sides. Day one’s camp was dominated by the Team White with a final score of 5-2 by our estimation.

Undrafted camp invitee Ben Steeves was impactful with two goals for Team White, while 2022 fifth-round selection Jared Wright also scored. Scoring the one of the two goals for the black team was forward Alex Laferriere, who had perhaps the most impressive individual highlight, as he deked his way through multiple defenders in the slot before completing the sequence with a backhand. Last year’s second-round draft pick, Jack Hughes, also found the back of the net for Team Black.

Two additional housekeeping notes to include –
– 2023 fifth-round draft pick, defenseman Matthew Mania, did not skate today (upper-body injury).
– 2019 fifth-round draft pick, defenseman Braden Doyle, skated in a red, non-contact jersey during the morning session but did not skate during the scrimmage (upper-body injury).

Leadership at all levels

Sean O’Donnell met with the media after day one pic.twitter.com/gjh3usw6dg

— LA Kings (@LAKings) July 7, 2023

Following the scrimmage, Sean O’Donnell of the Kings player development staff met with the media.

With such a small window and a large number of players in attendance at Development Camp, O’Donnell’s strategy starts with teaching and positively impacting the Kings’ prospects over this five-day camp.

“I think at times like this, we worked on some stuff today, we talked to guys and say the stuff you learn today or the in video meeting, when mistakes happen, that the biggest thing that we can get these guys to start to realize when they make a mistake, what they did wrong or what happened,” O’Donnell explained. “That’s the biggest thing, is when you when you make a mistake and you come back to the bench and don’t know what happened. We ask ‘what or how did that happen?’ So, we start to point that stuff out. We’ll move on to some of the tape from tonight and go over it maybe a little bit and if we can pick up a couple of things, we’ll show it to them. We try and it’s hard especially for [the defensemen] when it’s not structured like this and it’s a little bit all over the place. It’s tough to really evaluate a defenseman and how they are, but if we see something glaring and we’ve worked on we’ll find out in the next day.”

With a slightly more inexperienced group at development camp this year compared to previous years, O’Donnell saw a vast different in the camp vets and rookies.

The Kings certainly have players with some experience at camp, but the majority of the players on the ice here this week are either in their first development camp with the Kings, or haven’t played at all at the professional level. Players like Brandt Clarke, who played NHL and AHL games last season, was an exception, while Martin Chromiak and Samuel Helenius were the only players on the roster to spend the entire season at the professional level. Guys like Cole Krygier, Alex Laferriere and camp invite Jacob Modry played professional games at the end of last season, while others have played professionally in Europe. Still, there was a standout between those groups, in O’Donnell’s eyes, on Day 1.

“I just thought that it seemed apparent the guys that have played pro hockey compared to those that haven’t, you could see a difference,” he added. “If you look at a Helenius, I thought he was stronger today, Chromiak was good, Laferriere was really good. These guys, they’ve been a part of it, playing on the Kings or the Reign, they’ve some time, but it seemed like there was a level of confidence for the guys that had experienced [pro hockey].”

A big part of that is the on-ice level of competition and a big part of that is the off-ice habits that come along with it.

For players like Helenius and Chromiak, who have been through a full professional season within the organization, they’ve picked up on things away from the ice that perhaps others haven’t. It sets them a bit apart in the process as they come into their second or third development camp.

“I thought as a group, the guys have either been in Ontario or came at the end of the year and spent a little bit of time there were impressive,” O’Donnell added. “Once you see it, once you get around it, it helps your training in the summer, it helps your diet. Once you’re exposed to that, you take that back in the summertime and it better prepares you.”

Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images

One player in particular who learned from that experience was Laferriere, who O’Donnell highlighted above.

The Harvard product had the silky-smooth goal during the scrimmage and he echoed O’Donnell when it comes to the importance of experience.

“I mean, last year was definitely a lot of learning where everything is around here and obviously meeting all the guys,” Laferriere said. “We’ve got a new crew of guys here, some of the same guys, but it’s nice to get out here and see those guys again and just be around them. Being around like, the staff and development crew is great.”

Elaborating on the value of his previous experience around the Reign and Kings towards the end of last season, Laferriere said

“Getting in those getting few games, to see how big those guys are and how fast paced it is, it’s really prepared me moving forward,” he added. “Last year, I kind of didn’t know really what to expect with the pace and everything. Now that I’ve got those few games and I can come back a little more comfortable and confident, too. Now I know how to prepare and what to expect.”

Laferriere was joined late last season by goaltender Erik Portillo, a fellow collegiate product, who practiced at the AHL level over the last couple of weeks of the season.

Portillo, who was acquired from Buffalo at the trade deadline, is now in his first camp with the Kings since he joined the organization. After Day 1, Portillo is settling in and enjoyed his first day of development camp.

“It was really fun today,” he said. “I had a good time working with the goalie coaches here and just finally getting on here, so that was awesome,” Portillo said. “It’s good to compete again and it’s nice to get a win here in the scrimmage too. It was an awesome first day.”

Portillo, Laferriere and Clarke will be joined by forward prospect Francesco Pinelli and defensive prospect Cole Krygier as the Kings “new pro” class of 2023. All five players joined Ontario at the end of last season and all five players expect to compete for their time this season, whether that be at the NHL or AHL levels. Portillo added that having the familiarity of having spent a few weeks here in the spring was a benefit to him and likely to his teammates who were there with him.

“Yeah, I think [having some experience] always helps, knowing the area, knowing where you are and knowing some of the people [and staff] here. That helps for sure.”

Gang’s all here pic.twitter.com/VczDuodal6

— LA Kings (@LAKings) July 6, 2023

Defenseman Brandt Clarke also spoke with the media today, with a feature story on the Kings blueliner coming up in the morning. Clarke spoke on his goal of making the NHL roster out of training camp, with development camp hopefully serving as a strong first step in the process!