2024 Training Camp Primer – Day 1!

We’ve arrived, Insiders.

Day 1 of training camp.

A lot has happened this summer. The results of what transpired are unknown and now we’ve reached the first day of training camp. Today is the first day of working towards getting those results. The Kings hit the ice this morning with three groups, skating in four sessions. Group A kicks off the day shortly at 10 AM, before Groups A and B will scrimmage at 10:50 AM. Group B then remains on the ice for a 12:15 practice session, followed by Group C at 1 PM.

The practice sessions for Groups A and B will occur on NHL Rink 2, the former Olympic sheet, while the scrimmage and Group C’s practice will be on the main sheet. All practices during September will take place at Toyota Sports Performance Center. The times will remain the same tomorrow, Saturday and Sunday, with Groups A and B flopping times each day. I’d also expect the personnel to shuffle around each day, at least a bit, as the Kings look at different options throughout their large group of attendees.

For today, here is how the Kings will align for Day 1 of camp –

Group A
Alex Laferriere – Anze Kopitar – Adrian Kempe
Kevin Fiala – Quinton Byfield – Warren Foegele
Jeff Malott – Alex Turcotte – Samuel Fagemo
Aatu Jamsen – Francesco Pinelli – Jacob Doty

Vladislav Gavrikov – Jordan Spence
Andreas Englund – Kyle Burroughs
Jakub Dvorak – Cole Krygier
Jared Woolley – Angus Booth

Darcy Kuemper
Erik Portillo

Group B
Tanner Jeannot – Phillip Danault – Trevor Moore
Arthur Kaliyev – Akil Thomas – Trevor Lewis
Charles Hudon – Jack Studnicka – Tyler Madden
Andre Lee – Samuel Helenius – Taylor Ward

Mikey Anderson – Drew Doughty
Joel Edmundson – Brandt Clarke
Jacob Moverare – Joe Hicketts
Caleb Jones – Reilly Walsh

David Rittich
Pheonix Copley

Group C
Liam Greentree – Glenn Gawdin – Martin Chromiak
Shawn Element – Kaleb Lawrence – Koehn Ziemmer
Cole Davis – Jake Wise – John Parker-Jones
Quinn Olson – Oliver Tulk – Ethan Neutens
Bryce Brodzinski – Luke Woodworth – Patrick Moynihan
Arvid Caderoth

Luke Rowe – Matthew Mania
Corbin Vaughan – Jack Millar
Dru Krebs – Parker Berge

Carter George
Dryden McKay

For Day 1, expecting everyone on the roster for training camp to be on the ice. That includes Pheonix Copley, who will return for his first practice since undergoing ACL reconstruction surgery back in January. That puts Copley just over nine months since his procedure and the expectation as of at least last week was that he would be on the ice for Day 1, as a full participant. Still, imagine the Kings will monitor his situation to make sure that all is good. That also includes Arthur Kaliyev, who signed a one-year contract yesterday afternoon, on the eve of camp, and will be in action today. Kaliyev returned to Los Angeles a few days prior and took park in captains skates with his teammates as well as team media day events over the past two days. Where exactly he winds up in the lineup, when the roster shrinks down, remains to be seen. But, for today, Kaliyev is here, on the ice and ready to go.

As for the lineup, this is what was expected at least at the top of the lineup. Going all the way back to July 1, this is the lineup I had forecasted after talking with Rob Blake following free agency. The Kings are giving Alex Laferriere the first opportunity alongside the Kopitar/Kempe pairing. Same goes for the newly acquired Tanner Jeannot with the Danault/Moore duo. Then comes the line of Kevin Fiala – Quinton Byfield – Warren Foegele. Three exciting pieces who are not yet established as a duo or a trio, but there’s hope they could be. For now, the Kings like the pairings of Kopitar/Kempe, Danault/Moore and Byfield/Fiala. I think the third members of those lines could be moves around as needed, with all three players being versatile, as well as guys like Alex Turcotte and Akil Thomas, who could get looks higher in the lineup as we go forward. Day 1 is Day 1 and we’ll see what camp brings us.

With the defensemen, the top six was not really in question, it simply came down to who plays with who. For today, we’ll see Gavrikov and Spence, as well as Edmundson and Clarke. The Kings want to pair a veteran with a younger guy and with the personnel they have, that means a defensive-minded veteran with an offensively-gifted younger player. Spence deserves the first crack at playing on the second pairing, after spending all of last season in the NHL, but Clarke will push for minutes throughout camp. Expecting a more even split there than last season when there was an established Top 4 and then a third pairing. Again, it’s Day 1. This is what we’ll see today and we go from there.

Almost at it, Insiders! The 2024-25 season begins now.