It’s funny how things change in a year.
During training camp last fall, the Kings had as many as six right-shot defensemen who you could make a pretty easy case for being on the opening-night roster. Five of the six had played NHL games with the Kings the season before and four of which had playoff games to their name Kings throughout their respective careers. It wasn’t difficult to see any of the six make the roster on opening night, though ultimately just five did.
Today, as we look ahead to training camp to come, the Kings do not have six right-shot defensemen with an easy case to make for the opening-night roster. In fact, they don’t even have six right-shot defensemen under NHL contracts. The Kings have a group of five, all with NHL experience to their name, who will come to camp to compete for a roster spot. A look into that group below.
Who They Have
Brandt Clarke, Drew Doughty, Matt Roy, Steven Santini, Jordan Spence
Where They’re At
We know all about the roster turnover the Kings have undergone this summer, turnover that saw two RHD’s move out of the organization. Sean Walker was traded to Philadelphia as a part of the deal that created the necessary cap space to re-sign Vladislav Gavrikov, while Sean Durzi was moved to Arizona for a draft pick that was eventually included in the trade package that landed Pierre-Luc Dubois. The rationale was clear – arguably the two most NHL ready prospects in the system are right-shot defensemen. Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence are both pushing to be full-time NHL players and when you factor in the salary cap situation the Kings are facing, the organization felt it could move out two players with more experience because less expensive replacements were already signed to entry-level contracts. Simply a reality of a salary cap world.
The other reason the Kings can make those moves is that the RD1 and RD2 positions are solidified. Drew Doughty is under contract for the foreseeable future as the team’s number-one defenseman while Matt Roy has one season left on his current contract, as he’s grown into a very effective RD2. As noted in yesterday’s article, Doughty and Roy have formed partnerships with Mikey Anderson and Vladislav Gavrikov respectively, partnerships that have been extremely effective and will likely continue as training camp begins. As a result, the Kings have invested heavily in their top four on the backend, with the top two spots on the right side locked down.
That brings us to the other three players under contract in Clarke, Santini and Spence. It’s easy to group Clarke and Spence together because they’re both on entry-level contracts, they’re both young and dynamic players who have both produced at lower levels. Spence has been one of the AHL’s most productive defensemen over the last two seasons, while Clarke was the most productive defenseman in the OHL a season ago. Both are pushing for the RD3 spot and it’s possible that both players make the roster, though it’s hard to see the two playing together, considering handedness and style of play. That means one will not play on a given night. That creates an interesting roster dynamic. Santini is a different mold, but he’s a player who has played at least one NHL game in eight consecutive seasons. A former second-round draft pick, Santini is a player who earns his paycheck at the other end of the ice and you can’t have too many of those types of players around on the backend should opportunity arise. A reliable veteran to have in the mix amongst two younger players.
Photo by Matthew Pearce/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
What To Look For
This is essentially a copy/paste from the LHD article, but there’s not a ton to look out for with regards to Doughty and Roy during training camp. These are established veteran players who will get what they need, they’ll be important voices to hear from, but their roles are known on this team and their line of credit is quite long.
That third spot, however, could arguably be the most exciting battle in camp. Were Clarke and Spence on different teams, they might both be NHL players. They’re both on the Kings, though, and it is more likely than not that only one would start the season in the lineup on a given night. Spence has 87 points over the last two AHL seasons, as he finished seventh (2021-22) and ninth (2022-23) in defensive scoring at that level. Clarke ranked in the top five in goals and points last season in the OHL, despite not debuting until January. The question now is simple – are one or both ready for graduation, and in what role. The Kings really have just one role available on the right side, a role which will likely come with power-play time and more favorable matchups at even strength. Both players have the talent and the ability to come into camp and seize that role. Both players could put up a body of work during camp that suggests they are both worthy of that role on October 11. Only one can take it, though, and that’s a camp battle I’ll be very interested to follow.
Should Santini not work his way into that mix, he should be primed for big minutes at the AHL level. Same can be said for whoever does not take the RD3 position, should the Kings not opt to carry four right-hand shooting defensemen on the roster. It’s an interesting conversation should it get to that point. If say Clarke and Spence both put forth their best case of a roster spot, one might be deserving of the extra skater role assuming a 21 or 22 player roster. That role would not come with regular minutes, however, and that player might be best suited playing a larger role at a lower level, at least to start the season. Spence was in that position last year and he grew his defensive game by logging extensive minutes on the Reign’s top pairing, alongside Tobias Bjornfot, playing against top lines in Ontario each night. There are things to be gained by practicing and being around the NHL club as well, but with neither player requiring waivers this fall, moving them up and down would be relatively easy to do.
The Kings are also expected to manage their roster pretty regularly throughout the season and we’ll see players up and down more regularly than in seasons past in an effort to manage the salary cap. What is the roster on October 11 might not be the roster on October 12……and so on down the road.
A Look Ahead
The next two articles will shift from the defensemen to the forwards, with a look at the wingers and centers separately. The forwards have also undergone a pretty sizeable turnover, with a first look at how those players may align come training camp and eventually opening night.
Photo by Michael Martin/NHLI via Getty Images
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