2024 Training Camp Preview – Left-Shot Defensemen

Inside two weeks until camp!

As the LA Kings look towards the start of the 2024-25 season, we’ll take a look, position by position, at the group that will be hitting the ice this season for the NHL club and the AHL’s Ontario Reign.

Looking next at the left side of the blueline, or at least those defensemen who are left shots. The Kings have six players who played NHL games last season on the backend, with a seventh who has NHL experience to his name. Perhaps the deepest group in terms of NHL experience and readiness, a group that should be among the most hotly contested battles during training camp.

NHL Contracted Left-Handed Defensemen: Mikey Anderson, Angus Booth, Jakub Dvorak, Joel Edmundson, Andreas Englund, Vladislav Gavrikov, Joe Hicketts, Caleb Jones, Cole Krygier, Jacob Moverare
AHL Contracted Left-Handed Defensemen: John-Parker Jones

Where They’re At
Another position group for the Kings where the top of the group feels pretty set.

The Kings have Mikey Anderson, Vladislav Gavrikov and Joel Edmundson, all with substantial NHL experience, all with contracts that ensure their spot not just on the NHL roster but in the everyday lineup.

Anderson will likely begin the season on a pairing with Drew Doughty, where he’s played now for four seasons. No member of the Kings has a longer contract than Anderson, who is signed through the end of the 2030-31 season. He’s a future letter-wearer who is growing within the Kings locker room and he’s established who he is on the ice. He’s defensively responsible, he kills penalties effectively and he can move the puck up the ice. I don’t know how much offense there ultimately is for Anderson, but 20 or so points feels about right. I think we have a good sense of Mikey Anderson’s contributions as a player and he’s firmly equipped to continue in a top-four role, emphasizing defense and penalty killing.

Beyond Anderson are Gavrikov and Edmundson. They’re not the same player but they’re both bigger bodies who shoot left and bring a lot of professional experience to the table. The Kings wanted to have that type of player as their LD2 and LD3 to help complement Jordan Spence and Brandt Clarke on the right side.

For Gavrikov, his time with the Kings in 2022-23 felt like a second top-pairing defenseman. He had a lower-body injury last season and while the Gavrikov/Roy pairing was still effective, it wasn’t at the heights it hit the spring before. Gavrikov’s role will be a bit different now. He will be expected to help bring along Spence or Clarke, while playing his own brand of hockey that should help an offensively-gifted younger defenseman thrive. It’s not a role we’ve really seen Gavrikov in, minus a couple of games here and there, but the Kings believe he can help in that area.

In Edmondson, the Kings valued his physicality, playoff experience and defensive nature as a free agent. In speaking to Edmundson earlier this summer, he embraces the mentor role and is excited to fill that with the Kings. I don’t think there’s a ton of issue with that type of player, but more so what it took contractually to bring him in. That’s a separate conversation. In terms of what the Kings brought in to help round out their blueline, and help round out a pairing with a younger offensive player, Edmundson was someone they had targeted for a bit now and were able to bring in. He wants to play defense and a let a Clarke or a Spence flourish.

Beyond those three, the Kings actually have a ton of experience on the left side. Andreas Englund played 82 games last season. Caleb Jones played 73 games in 2022-23 and has 242 to his name in total. Jacob Moverare played 24 games with the Kings last season and Joe Hicketts also has NHL experience with Detroit.

A world where the Kings keep eight defensemen on their roster for Opening Night is easily seen. Who those eight defensemen are, though, is less clear. Of that group, you’d think a guy like Englund would be in line to be the seventh defenseman, someone who could dress in an 11/7 look or perhaps when his skillset is needed. Could even maybe see him play up front from time to time. Englund had a really strong first half of last season but his output embodied the team’s during the January rut perhaps more than any. Jones and Moverare won’t see themselves as AHL defensemen. Both played NHL games last year and both would see themselves as NHL players. Still, that’s six players for what is likely no more than four spots. Perhaps the battle most worth watching come camp.

Beyond those players are Joe Hicketts, who is a veteran at the AHL level with NHL experience, as well as a trio of younger players in Angus Booth, Jakub Dvorak and Cole Krygier, with Booth and Krygier to factor into the mix in the AHL and Dvorak’s status to be determined during training camp. At 19-years-old from Czechia, Dvorak is eligible to play in the NHL, the AHL or the WHL, where he would go if he does not stick around as a professional player. The Reign have also signed John-Parker Jones, who plays both forward and defense, who is a versatile option at both positions.

What To Look For
My expectation going into camp is to see Anderson slotted in his usual LD1 spot, with Drew Doughty as his likely partner. Gavrikov and Edmundson would slot in behind him, though it’s unclear on who their partners will be on Day 1. I think we’ll probably see Jordan Spence with Vladislav Gavrikov and Joel Edmundson alongside Brandt Clarke, but that can be swapped around easily, with all six defensemen capable of playing NHL minutes.

Behind those players, there should be a solid camp battle between Englund, Jones, Moverare and Hicketts for either the seventh or eighth defenseman spot. No guarantee that the Kings will carry seven versus eight but all of those players require waivers to be assigned to the AHL. Englund is considered the frontrunner after playing 82 games a season ago and he provides a different skillset for nights the Kings want to dress seven defensemen, which they did a number of times down the stretch last season. Jones and Moverare are different types of players who are both capable playing on a third pairing or as a seventh defensemen, or filling in higher in the lineup. All three are in the mix to make the NHL roster on the left side, with Jones capable on both sides of the ice. After the 2021-22 season, we all know the depth can never hurt.

Hicketts is a leader in the locker room with the AHL club. Someone who could very well step into a letter this season with the Reign. He partnered Brandt Clarke for stretches last season and was both effective as a player and as someone who helped younger players develop. Jones and Hicketts both could find themselves on the right side as well if needed, with the Kings carrying more left-handed defensemen throughout the organization than right.

For the younger trio, Krygier played most nights last season with the Reign while Booth was a standout defensive player in the QMJHL. Krygier will look to make the jump from the younger mix to the NHL fringe mix while Booth will look to establish himself as an everyday AHL player. He’s not the flashiest but he’s reliable and solid. For Dvorak, there are a lot of guys in the mix, so he may find himself back in the WHL, which might be the best path for him anyways. If he impresses, though, he’s got a strong draft pedigree as a second-round pick and could outplay those ahead of him for a spot.

Looking Ahead
Swapping over to the right side this weekend with a look across the blueline to the right-hand shooting defensemen. A few less options who shoot right, but the Kings are well stocked with left-shot defensemen in the mix to round out both the NHL and AHL rosters. Much more to come!