Erik Portillo set for second pro season after strong play in year one with the Ontario Reign

Now that he has a signed contract to secure his future for the next three seasons, Erik Portillo is ready to get back to work.

The goaltender made a good first impression with the Ontario Reign last season, leading the Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate on a playoff run that saw them win five straight games before bowing out in the Pacific Division Finals.

Not much was expected of Portillo early on in his first professional year. He made only four starts in the first month, beginning in a backup role behind David Rittich. But when Pheonix Copley suffered a season-ending injury in mid-December, the Kings recalled Rittich and Portillo was immediately elevated to the starting job in Ontario.

He proved up to the task and became comfortable making more consistent starts down the stretch, which included 11 wins in a 14-game span from Feb. 24 through the end of the regular season. That period also consisted of a seven-game winning streak where the first-year backstop went a month straight without suffering a loss.

Before the postseason, Portillo appeared in 39 games for the Reign and set a team rookie wins record, finishing with an overall mark of 24-11-3, a goals-against average of 2.50 and a 0.918 save percentage. He also recorded a pair of shutouts.

Then the Goteborg, Sweden native was at his best when the playoffs began, allowing one goal or less in his first four postseason outings, highlighted by his first Calder Cup Playoffs shutout on May 5 against Abbotsford. Even though Coachella Valley was able to damper Ontario’s defensive success in round three, Portillo still finished the run with a 2.16 goals-against and a 0.916 save percentage in his eight postseason contests.

A lot to like from a debut season that set the stage for more playing time in year two, and there’s no shortage of poise and spirit from the goaltender as he prepares for training camp in the coming weeks.

“I think confidence has to come from within, and I think that’s high for me,” Portillo said this week after his new deal was announced last Sunday. “Now it’s just about working hard and proving to yourself that you earn it every day.”

The current trajectory for Portillo, who covers much of the net with his 6-6, 210-pound size, has him on track to start getting opportunities at the NHL level with the Kings towards the latter part of his three-year pact.

In front of him is Darcy Kuemper, who the Kings brought in via trade earlier this summer. Kuemper also has three years remaining on his current deal that was signed with the Capitals before the 2022-23 season. Additionally, Rittich is also poised to remain at the NHL level with the Kings this season. The team extended the veteran with a second consecutive one-year contract in May before he was to become a free agent.

Portillo’s contract wasn’t agreed on until later in the summer, but the goaltender never had designs on leaving the team that traded for him at the trade deadline during his final collegiate season with Michigan in 2023.

“I love LA,” Portillo said. “I love this organization and how all the people in this organization have taken care of me. This is where I want to be for the future.”

Ports is back in between the posts! 🙌 Goaltender Erik Portillo has signed a 3-year contract extension with the @LAKings!

📰 https://t.co/DJHhX2TDMB pic.twitter.com/3Ut6mmgmWO

— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) August 25, 2024

While it has been a shorter offseason than he’s used to after the Reign played until mid-May, the netminder has had some time to reset and collect his thoughts after his first professional year.

“I went back home to Sweden and spent a lot of time with family and friends that you don’t get to see that much during the season,” said Portillo. “I evaluated the season and looked at what went well and what I can improve. Then I started working kind of right away. I mean, it was my first season, and the goal is to take the next step here.”

Portillo’s hoping the work he put in last season with Ontario and then back at home in Sweden over the summer will pay off for him when he has his second opportunity in NHL training camp with the Kings this month.

In addition to Kuemper and Rittich, he’ll also be competing with Copley, who has returned on a one-year contract and expects to be healthy when practices begin. Those four will most likely share the team’s preseason workload, which consists of six games beginning with a September 23 matchup in Utah.

Portillo is also eligible to compete for the Kings at the 2024 Rookie Faceoff event in El Segundo from September 13-16, but the team has yet to confirm their roster for the showcase. It’s expected that we’ll hear more about the roster for those three Kings prospect games in the coming days.

The goaltender indicated that he’s going to come into camp with a level-headed mindset as he prepares for the beginning of a new season.

“I think just getting the habits right and getting all the details right, doing the little things and then letting the rest take care of itself,” Portillo said of his focus over the next few weeks. “I want to come in, compete hard and work hard every day, and then if you do the small habits and details right, I think I’ll be in a good spot.”

This year’s camp will be a different type of opportunity for Portillo than what was in front of him last season. A year ago, he was more of an afterthought as a rookie, with LA preparing for a lengthy trip to Australia for a pair of games. Although Portillo played at the Rookie Faceoff in Vegas and started for the Kings in a neutral-site contest against Anaheim in San Diego, most of the focus for upper management was on what the team’s veterans were doing down under.

When the group gets back on the ice in El Segundo in a few weeks, there will be much more of an opportunity for Portillo to showcase himself in front of decision-makers, with a larger spotlight on his performance as someone who has established himself as the organization’s top professional goaltending prospect.

“When there’s ice in the building, you always have to be prepared and it’s important to make an impression and just be yourself,” Portillo said. “For me at least, I think the three most important things are being yourself, working hard and competing.”