WHO: Los Angeles Kings (0-0) vs. Vegas Golden Knights (0-0)
WHAT: 2024 Rookie Faceoff, Game 1
WHEN: Friday, September 12 @ 7:30 PM Pacific
WHERE: Toyota Sports Performance Center – El Segundo, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: LAKings.com – AUDIO – Video Stream Only – TWITTER: @DooleyLAK & @LAKings
TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings begin the 2024 Rookie Faceoff on home ice against the Vegas Golden Knights, with a Friday night faceoff in El Segundo.
HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings and Golden Knights square off in the rookie tournament for the first time since 2022, when the Kings earned a 5-4 victory in the shootout. Five players who played in that game – Angus Booth, Brandt Clarke, Aatu Jamsen, Kaleb Lawrence and Francesco Pinelli – are on the roster for this season’s tournament and could also feature in tonight’s contest.
KINGS VITALS: The Kings took a morning skate today at TSPC in advance of tonight’s game, with the full group of camp rookies on the ice. The game group skated for approximately 20 minutes, with projected scratches on later for additional work.
Goaltender Carter George was the first netminder off this morning, with Erik Portillo also off relatively early in the morning skate. It’s a rookie tournament, so take it all with a grain of salt, but that could be the tandem for this evening’s game. The Kings have five goaltenders on the roster and would like to get all five into a game, if possible. Portillo and George are the two highest profile netminders on the roster and would make some sense on night one.
The Kings didn’t hold formal line rushes today, but based off of yesterday’s skate, with who was on late today, here’s how we could see the team align here this evening –
Greentree – Pinelli – Ziemmer
Jamsen – Lawrence – Brodzinski
Olson – Caderoth – Parker-Jones
Davis – Moynihan – Woodworth
Defensemen: Booth, Clarke, Dvorak, Mania, Rowe, Woolley
Portillo / George
The top six feels pretty set, though the bottom six could move around a bit.
The Kings have a large roster to rotate through during these three games, especially on the blue line and in net. Each game will have three extra forwards, four extra defensemen and three extra goaltenders as scratched players. The above alignment is a projection based on who was off the ice first this morning, with who we could see in action in tonight’s game versus Vegas. Over the three games, look for everyone to play at least once.
GOLDEN KNIGHTS VITALS: The Golden Knights arrived in Southern California yesterday, following a practice in Nevada, and held a morning skate today in El Segundo.
Hear from Vegas Rookie Faceoff Head Coach Ryan Craig HERE after their practice in Vegas yesterday.
It’s a rookie tournament here, so naturally we don’t have exact lineups for visiting teams at this point in time. Craig shared that the Golden Knights have a top forward line of Mathieu Cataford, Jakub Brabenec and Jakub Demek, all of whom were mid-round draft picks by Vegas over the last couple of seasons. More to follow as we get closer to game time. A full Vegas roster is available HERE.
Notes –
Top Line Turn Up
Greentree/Pinelli/Ziemmer skating together on Day 1.
In speaking with Marco Sturm, the Kings want to see their drafted players so not surprising to see three high picks playing together.
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) September 12, 2024
Look for the Kings to run a top forward line of three of their top forward prospects, composed of the top forward selected by the team in each of the 2024, 2023 and 2021 NHL Drafts. With Francesco Pinelli down the middle, between Liam Greentree and Koehn Ziemmer, the Kings have a trio they’ll look to rely on throughout the prospect tournament.
“I think those guys are easy to play with, they’ve both got a ton of skill and a little bit of grit to go with it as well,” Ziemmer said of his line. “I think we can play at both ends of the ice so I’m excited to get going.”
It’s a line of future projection, certainly, with only Pinelli a lock to play professional hockey this season. Greentree will almost certainly return to the OHL while Ziemmer could play either in the AHL or the WHL, with his sights set on cracking the Reign roster.
This weekend is an opportunity for him to showcase himself for that opportunity.
“Obviously I want to play pro and I’m just going to come in and play my game, have a good camp,” Ziemmer added. “I’m trying to make the choice for them easier.”
With Ziemmer, he’s an interesting profile.
He’s not the biggest player but physicality is a huge part of his game. He’s proven he can score in the WHL, with 41 goals during the 2022-23 season in Prince George. He’s a prospect that I think is interesting to watch this weekend. The Kings really liked his profile at the draft but understood he had a longer runway off the ice. Last season was particularly challenging for him with injuries, which limited him to just 23 regular-season games with the Cougars. A good measuring stick, of sorts, at this weekend’s tournament.
“Playing his game” for him includes offensive output but it has to include other things as well.
It’s the second time around now, at a rookie tournament, and he’s leaning into that comfort level this weekend.
“I think the big thing is just the second time around, knowing what to expect now and having a little bit more confidence,” Ziemmer said. “I’m excited to get going and get into the games. With the confidence, knowing what to expect now, I can just go out and play my game.”
For Greentree, he was selected by the Kings in Round 1 just this past June and will be thrown right into the action tonight with the Kings. Greentree is an exciting prospect. Among a squad of bigger players, he still looked pretty imposing on the ice. He’s got the size and skill combination the Kings sought and put those tools on display during development camp over the summer.
This is a step up, though, for an 18-year-old player who has played no higher than the OHL. Looking forward to seeing how he makes the jump up against older players, many of whom have played in the AHL.
“[Greentree]’s a big power forward, who likes to shoot the puck, I’ll get him the puck and I know he’ll put it in the net,” Pinelli said. “It should be fun playing with him and Ziemmer, that’s a pretty solid line for sure.”
More on Greentree HERE in yesterday’s practice report.
For Pinelli, the competition he’s facing is actually the opposite to his winger.
He’s the “veteran” of this line and really of this team. He’s got a full professional season under his belt and took some serious strides, especially later in the season. He is one of the players that Head Coach Marco Sturm is looking at to help lead the group and lead his line, consisting of a pair of younger wingers.
Sturm did not disclose who would captain the squad tonight, but expect Pinelli to be in the mix for a letter of some variety. Sturm highlighted him multiple times with regards to leadership with this group, as a player who has a full AHL season under his belt with the Ontario coaching staff.
This is an event that Pinelli should stand out in and hopefully he does exactly that.
News & Notes
Quinton Byfield rocking the new @LAKings look and these uniforms look SICKKKKK pic.twitter.com/gv1LvkD610
— Jonny Lazarus (@JLazzy23) September 11, 2024
– The Kings announced three hockey operations additions today, all moving through the development system from the Ontario Reign to the Kings. More on that news HERE.
Puck drop is set for 7 PM! Will have a game thread with the streaming information closer to puck drop. Hockey is back, Insiders. That’s pretty cool.
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