10/4 Practice – Kings Touch on PP + Englund on Adjusting, Kaliyev Hearing, Behind The Glass

Practice Day, Insiders!

The Kings hit the ice for a special-teams driven afternoon on the ice. Todd McLellan gave us the general roadmap for today’s skate after last night’s game. He liked a lot about what the Kings did in a mismatched game against a younger Anaheim lineup, but also found a few areas for improvement, including the coverage in transition against the lone Ducks goal, as well as being a bit too cute on the power play, despite some good chance creation.

McLellan noted that the Kings took the opportunity to work on some of those things today, as well as to reinforce some of the things he felt the group did well in yesterday’s game.

“Actually, we worked on some of the things that we did like from last night, tried to build on it a little bit,” McLellan said. “Lots of special teams work, as expected at this time of year for any team, and a good quick skate with a lot of pace. That was our focus. We worked on some of the negatives, via video, prior to practice, but overall, we had a pretty good night last night with things to build on.”

As far as today’s skate goes, the Kings spent a lot of time working on the power play, as a part of a focus on special teams. Their units were generally approached as follows –

PP1: Doughty, Fiala, Kopitar, Arvidsson, Kempe
PP2: Spence/Clarke, Danault, Byfield, Kaliyev/Moore, Dubois

We saw both Brandt Clarke and Jordan Spence running the second unit and we saw Trevor Moore rotate in as well, in Arthur Kaliyev’s spot. More on that below. For today, the units worked against intensity on the penalty kill, with McLellan pushing direct play on the man advantage. It’s a unit that scored a beautiful goal yesterday, with Viktor Arvidsson setting up Adrian Kempe for a tailor-made one-timer.

Notes –
Englund Adapting
A lot of the chatter here in the preseason about adjusting to the system has come around forward Pierre-Luc Dubois, and rightfully so. Dubois was the team’s big-ticket acquisition here in the preseason and he’s settling into the way the Kings play the game, asking the right questions and getting accustomed to a new style of hockey.

Defenseman Andreas Englund is in the same boat, however.

Englund joined the Kings on July 1, as he signed a two-year contract and like Dubois, he is getting used to a different way of playing the game. Englund has played for three different NHL organizations throughout his career. He’s been with Chicago, Colorado and Ottawa and is now looking to crack his fourth different NHL roster with the Kings.

With a couple of weeks and a few exhibition contests now under his belt, Englund is learning on the go and is starting to grasp what he’s learned on the ice.

“There’s definitely parts of the system that I’ve played before, so that helps, but also there’s a lot of new stuff that you’ve got to get up to speed on quick to be able to play,” Englund said. “It’s a part of our game to play together and if one piece is missing, it’s tough out there.”

While he’s still sorting things out at 5-on-5, he’s also likely to be involved on the penalty kill as well, should he be in the lineup.

Englund’s strengths lie with physicality and at the defensive end of the ice, playing in that situation a bit in yesterday’s game versus Anaheim. Should he factor into special teams, it would likely come on the penalty kill, where his size and length in the defensive zone could be an asset, even on a Kings squad that is deep with players who should factor in on the penalty kill. Still, injuries happen and he’s working on a system he knows is important.

“I played a similar [system] in Colorado, so that helps a little bit, but at the same time, it’s also a little bit different,” Englund said. “We’ve got to get together as a group and play a good bit, so it’s been good that we’ve been working on it, and hopefully we will get it down soon.”

What Englund has yet to master, however, is the drive to Crypto.com Arena.

He drove in with Matt Roy to yesterday’s preseason game, learning the route a bit, but from a passenger’s perspective.

It was nice, though, to get a feel for the arena and what it entails from a home perspective. He admitted he didn’t know exactly where to go on his way in,

“I was walking in there with Royzie and a couple other guys, I didn’t know where I was going,” he said with a laugh. “Definitely it’s good to have been there before [the home opener].”

Kaliyev Hearing

Los Angeles’ Arthur Kaliyev will have a hearing today for Kneeing Anaheim’s Chase De Leo.

— NHL Player Safety (@NHLPlayerSafety) October 4, 2023

Kings forward Arthur Kaliyev had a hearing with the NHL’s Department of Player Safety this afternoon, as a result of his kneeing penalty in last night’s game against Anaheim. McLellan confirmed, when he spoke, that the hearing was scheduled for later in the day and that “we’ll see what comes of it.”

It’s hard to say exactly what a preseason hit like that would merit as far as a suspension, but the Kings are at the very least a bracing for the possibility. Forward Trevor Moore took some of the power-play reps today in Kaliyev’s spot and during his post-practice media availability, McLellan mentioned the possibility of lineup changes for tomorrow’s game, as a result of a possible Kaliyev suspension.

Not known at this time if he will be suspended, or if that suspension would cover preseason or regular-season games. We’ll see what comes of it, but the Kings have three forwards who did not play yesterday and are hungry for a game who are waiting for their chance should there be an opportunity of any kind.

Behind The Glass, Episode 1
Lastly, Insiders, a look at the NHL’s Behind The Glass, Episode 1, on the NHL’s YouTube channel.

Episode one debuted on Monday on NHL Network, the first episode in a three-part series that documents a behind-the-scenes look at LA Kings Training Camp. Episodes 2 and 3 are expected to air on consecutive Mondays, concluding with the final part of the series on October 16. A look at the full version of the first episode below!

We’ll likely learn more tomorrow, Insiders, as we preview the game in Salt Lake City. A homecoming for Trevor Lewis and what we would expect to be the return of Pheonix Copley between the pipes. Hear from both players in tomorrow’s game preview!