LA Kings unveil new home and road jerseys, beginning with 2024-25 season

You got your logo, now here’s your jerseys!

Introducing the new home and road uniforms for the LA Kings.

I don’t think there was exactly a ton of mystery surrounding what the jersey would look like, but similar to the logo, even if you’re 85 percent of the way there with your guess or your leak, there are still some details that are different than the 90’s jerseys and there are certainly several differences from the jerseys we’ve seen over the past several seasons.

First thing that stood out for me is the consistency.

When you look at the outgoing black and white sweaters, the Kings had two different jersey designs. The home jersey had one design and the away jersey had a different design. I get it, the current home jersey was originally slated to be a third jersey and when the Kings returned to contention wearing that jersey, it made sense to create a white version. But, the end products were not the same and that always made them feel a bit off. One thing that was important with this creation was to find one template that worked for both home and away and execute it. That was certainly done with what we’re seeing today.

There’s also consistency within the jersey. The stripes on the bottom of the jersey are the same as the stripes on the arm. Even on the originals of the 90’s jerseys, it wasn’t identical in the patterns between the two. Perhaps a product of a rushed timeline in a less precise era, but without those two drawbacks, the Kings made that correction and it’s a good one.

As the process went along, it was the black jersey, the home jersey, that was really what won people over internally. We’ve seen variations of the white jersey over the past few seasons, starting with the throwback nights in 2019-20 and 2020-21 and continuing into the chrome-dome look over the last three seasons. We haven’t seen the black jersey in awhile, though and seeing it in person, man, that was pretty cool. I think a lot of people had that reaction, including Anze Kopitar and Drew Doughty, per Kings COO Kelly Cheeseman during his interview with us in advance of the brand/logo launch last week.

Another highlight, for sure, is the home helmets.

While teams have dabbled in matte helmets before, the Kings using them on a full-time basis at home is believed to be the first time in NHL history a team has done so. I have never in my life needed to be sold on matte. I love matte. I almost ditched my beloved Miami Dolphins when the Minnesota Vikings dropped the matte purple helmets. The helmets will be excellent and a terrific part of the overall uniform package. Have a few additional details to drop on the helmets in a feature later today, with Head Equipment Manager Darren Granger sharing some additional insight into what makes those possible.

Also, someone’s got to say it – for me, the removal of that just terrible piping is a big win. Never been a fan of the piping that seemed to box in the Kings jerseys with the shield look, especially at home. Throwing it back to the Reebok era there and I for one am glad to see it come to a close, at least for the Kings.

For the 2024-25 season, no teams in the NHL will be allowed to wear a third jersey, so the two we’re seeing today are the two we’ll have when the Kings hit the ice in October. Love ’em or hate ’em, no more chrome domes after a three-season run.

With the league’s uniform partnership switching from Adidas to Fanatics, each team will only have two jerseys for the upcoming season. Beginning next year, we could see teams begin to re-introduce alternate jerseys and the Kings have pretty much said outright that they could be among those teams. The crown within the primary logo was designed both as a part of the primary mark, but also as a potential standalone asset, one which could be used as a part of an alternate jersey down the road. We won’t see that this year, but there’s certainly a chance we could see it going forward.

There’s also the Fanatics question, right? We saw the MLB rollout. I felt the jersey and it felt similar to what we’ve seen. The jersey is coming from the same place, for what it’s worth. There shouldn’t be a change to the product the players are wearing this season.

In the league’s official release this morning was the following line –

“The new uniforms are being manufactured by Quebec-based SP Apparel, the same company whose elite craftsmanship has provided the NHL’s on-ice uniforms for nearly 50 years.”

Per that release, the base production of the jersey will remain the same as what we had under Adidas.

Modifications include “an additional layer of fabric inside the lower sleeve to enhance uniform durability intended to reduce material wear from sustained friction against the boards” (this enhancement was the direct result of feedback from NHL players and equipment managers) as well as “new shoulder fabrics replacing the debossed pattern fabric used on the shoulders of the prior NHL jersey.”

“Fanatics listened to our players and Clubs, and preserved the quality, performance and design of our uniforms to serve our world-class athletes,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We have a shared commitment with Fanatics to serving our Players and fans, and we are proud of what Fanatics has delivered to our new uniforms.”

I suppose the proof will be in the pudding. All signs, and early indications, are that of a strong product. Will see how they pan out.

We’ll see the home jersey for the first time at the draft here this weekend. Assuming the Kings make the pick and the pick is in attendance, the team’s first-round selection on Friday will be the first member of the organization, minus the four players featured above, to wear the jersey and the first person to wear it in person, publicly.

As noted above, will have a second story to follow today, as Jesse Cohen and I sat down with Head Equipment Manager Darren Granger to go over some of the finer details of what makes a jersey come to life. Really good chat and a look behind the curtain with a very influential member of the process.

From the team’s official release –

The LA Kings today introduced the club’s new permanent uniforms. The collection of the home and away jersey prominently features the club’s new primary mark.

The jersey will be worn for the first time in Las Vegas this weekend when the Kings make their first selection in the 2024 National Hockey League (NHL) Draft. The home uniform will debut on the ice in September during the 2024 Rookie Faceoff tournament, which the Kings will host. The away uniform will debut during the Kings’ first preseason game later that month.

The new Kings black-silver-and-white uniform features the key elements of the organization’s recent brand evolution, highlighted by the new team logos and design elements. It contains core elements inspired by the club’s 90s era, and an updated crown from the team’s inception in 1967. Also revised is an “enhanced silver.”

Both the white jersey and black jersey feature the same design alignment including a larger primary crest centered on the front of the jersey. The lettering (names and numbers) on the back feature a higher contrast set-up to increase visibility. The numbers on the bicep area are now higher toward each shoulder.

The black home uniform features a new matte black helmet, which is believed to be the first time an NHL team has used a matte black helmet full-time. Partners Mercury Insurance (jersey) Blue Shield of California (helmet) return for the 2024-25 season and are both featured prominently. The white away uniform features the same white helmet as last season.  

The Kings will not feature an alternate uniform during the upcoming 2024-25 season. The shiny silver helmet, often informally referred to as a “chrome dome,” is not part of the team’s new uniform collection.   

Last week the Kings officially “retired” the team’s most recent primary logo, which made its debut in 2008 as the featured element of an alternate jersey. The team in 2011 adopted the logo as its primary mark, along with the team colors of black, silver, and white (the team colors remain). The Kings captured both of their Stanley Cups wearing the black version of that jersey.

The Kings will announce further details of the 2024 Rookie Faceoff event later. The 2024 NHL Draft takes place this weekend in Las Vegas. The Kings currently hold four selections including the 21st overall choice.