Kings Announce Roster Moves, NHL/AHL Camp Split Starts Tomorrow

Happy Sunday Afternoon, Insiders.

A long list of transactions coming at you this morning, the typical Sunday Split during training camp.

The LA Kings are set to enter their final week of the preseason, with three games on the docket that will large in part feature the team’s veteran players, getting themselves ready to go for the regular season. Meanwhile, the Ontario Reign are set to open their 2023 training camp tomorrow morning at Toyota Sports Performance Center. The Kings need to trim their main group to focus on what will likely be a roster of 21 players, no more than 22, while the Reign need to round out their own early-season lineup to prepare for a pair of exhibition contests at the AHL level, beginning a week from today.

The group remaining in camp consists of 28 players (17 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders). The full remaining roster is available HERE. One note here is that Tyler Madden (day-to-day) and Andre Lee (week-to-week) are rehabbing undisclosed injuries and are not expected to be on the ice tomorrow when practice resumes. So, expect 26 players when the team skates tomorrow morning at TSPC.

That still leaves several additional moves to come between now and the regular season, though we still have three games left to get to that point. Speaking with veterans like Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, they typically like to get into 3-4 exhibition contests to feel ready to go come opening night. Both have played one thus far, so it wouldn’t be surprising to see those guys into at least two games this week, if not all three. The Kings could opt to rotate in some of the younger players on the roster for the game in Salt Lake City, to minimize travel on the veterans, but expect to get a good look at an Opening Night preview in the two games played in Los Angeles.

As far as today’s moves, they are broken down as follows –

Assigned To The AHL’s Ontario Reign
Martin Chromiak
Samuel Helenius
Cole Krygier
Kim Nousiainen
Francesco Pinelli
Erik Portillo
Taylor Ward

Placed On Waivers
Kevin Connauton
Samuel Fagemo
Joe Hicketts
Hayden Hodgson
Mikhail Maltsev
Jacob Moverare
Steven Santini
Akil Thomas
T.J. Tynan

Assigned To Their Respective Junior Teams
Angus Booth (D, Shawinigan, QMJHL)
Koehn Ziemmer (F, Prince George, WHL)

Released From Their Training-Camp Try Outs
Ryan Bednard
J-F Berube
Jacob Doty
Ryan Francis
Charles Hudon
Tyler Inamoto
Jacob Ingham
Isaac Johnson
Jacob Modry
Nikita Pavlychev
Wyatte Wylie

The 11 players who were released from their training camp try outs are expected to join the Ontario Reign’s training camp roster.

There are likely a few names in this mix that could come as a surprise for some people, but if you look at the pattern of what’s been said throughout camp, and the situation the Kings are in from a roster standpoint, there shouldn’t be a ton of surprises here. That isn’t meant to downplay how well a few of the players who were assigned to Ontario today have played over the last week, because there were some very strong showings. But up front, there are at most 13 forward positions up for grabs to begin the season and if you look at the Australia group alone, that means a minimum of three cuts. Adding anyone else into that conversation means more cuts on top of that and at this stage in where the Kings are at, there are a lot of factors in play. Keep in mind, there is also the possibility of a player being recalled later in camp, something LA has done in the past.

Perhaps the biggest surprise in terms of remaining with the big club, who bucked that trend above, is forward Alex Laferriere, who has been a standout throughout the Rookie Faceoff and early exhibition contests. We talked all camp about how a player would rise from Groups B and C to join the big club and Laferriere is that player. The Harvard product has earned his place among the final group of forwards competing for a roster spot at this stage in camp. Laferriere’s production has been excellent, but he’s focused a lot on his wall play at both ends of the ice and he’s impressed in all three zones. Ontario Reign Head Coach Marco Sturm called him a more mature player than he was when he arrived out of college in April and believes he is now comfortable in the Kings system. We’re seeing it in his play. Good on him for his production and his high level of play throughout camp. Still a long way between here and the roster, but an impressive showing for a guy who saw an opportunity and seized it.

It’s important to see those types of showings, like Laferriere’s, that we’ve seen from a lot of guys here in the exhibition season and for the players who have played the last four games, these games are important, more important than they are for the veterans. But just keep in mind, preseason roles likely won’t translate into regular-season roles and preseason scoring doesn’t always mean regular-season scoring. There are likely no top-nine roles available with the NHL club right now and things like that have to be factored in. Veteran players, who we will see more of this week, have earned a line of credit at the ATM and by all accounts, none have given it back yet. An exciting week on the horizon as the roster comes into focus.

McLellan has also mentioned all of the factors at play here – salary cap constraints, roster limits, waiver eligibility, experience, positions available – as themes throughout camp. This is a tough year to crack the NHL roster, the toughest in McLellan’s time with the organization. This is now a lineup that now has an experienced fourth line, all on one-way contracts, not to mention experienced players who might already be on the outside looking in. The fact of the matter is, there were very few spots on this roster up for grabs during training camp, so the battle to claim a spot was uphill from the start, likely requiring a Gabe Vilardi-esque showing from a season ago. A lot of guys on the above list will head to the AHL having made a positive impression. The lineup on October 11 won’t play 82 games together, so there will be chances throughout the season and callups to come. Certain individuals have put themselves in a great position to be among the first names brought up when those situations arise.

“Let’s face it, there’s not a lot of competition, there is but there isn’t,” Todd McLellan said during camp. “When it comes to the cap, when it comes to waivers, to development, there’s some decisions that have to be made there, but we’re tied into a lineup that we expect. If somebody does knock our socks off then great, but if not, then they have to go and work their way back up, whether you need waivers or not.”

Lots of players who now have that opportunity to work their way back into the mix. That starts tomorrow for the group in Ontario, knowing that there are still several moves left to be made between October 1 and October 11.