If Game 1 Were Today……..Jim Hiller provides LAK injury updates heading into final week of regular season

Another day of updates, Insiders.

Jim Hiller said today that he believes he would have his full complement of players available to him if Game 1 of the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs was tomorrow.

“I do,” Hiller said, simply.

The classic intersection of a marriage proposal gone right and a bevy of players in various stages of injury recovery for an optimistic head coach. Or something like that.

The biggest topic of conversation today was defenseman Drew Doughty. Because, well, Doughty was on the ice, a full participant during today’s practice. Seemed obvious that Doughty was pushing himself a bit, testing things out and trying to get to a place where he’d become more of an option to return.

Again, if tomorrow were Game 1, Hiller was optimistic that Doughty and others would play.

For today, though, he was pushing. He was skating. He was working. On the ice early for practice and put in a solid shift.

Hiller said that he wasn’t on for the end of the skate, when Doughty was really going hard and he added that he hadn’t yet checked in with the training staff yet. But he took the word of those

“I talked to somebody and they said Drew looked good, I didn’t even see him, I left early, haven’t talked to him, haven’t talked to Kinger but the fact that you said he looked good and somebody else told me that, that’s a really positive sign,” Hiller said. “I’m not overly optimistic [for tomorrow] just based on that, but that’s a good sign.”

The preference for everyone seems to get Doughty specifically into a game or two before Game 1 of the playoffs.

Not that he has been out for too long, right, he’s played almost every game over the last two months, minus the last two. He’s been skating as well, which is nice, as he took the ice for some individual work yesterday, in advance of the team’s morning skate at Toyota Sports Performance Center.

So, it might not be tomorrow for Doughty. But he seems to be in a good spot.

“It’ll be a balance. I would say he’ll be fully recovered before we put him in but he wants to play a couple games,” Hiller said of Doughty. “I think every player does, who has gone through that, want to get at least a couple games just to get the timing and rhythm back. So, if we can do that, we’ll look forward to that.”

Ultimately, with Doughty, he’s not going to be 100 percent even when he does play. So, he’ll be as “fully recovered” as he can be.

Hiller pointed to the relationship that Doughty has with Head Athletic Trainer Chris Kingsley as being something that makes this situation work. The two have been here together in Los Angeles for essentially Doughty’s entire career, so there is a mutual trust and respect there that

“He’s probably the best judge, right, he can explain it to everybody and say ‘this is how I’m feeling’ and I think him and Kinger have a great relationship,” Hiller added of Doughty. “Kinger can read between the lines with Drew. He knows exactly where he’s at. Those two, I think, work really well together and Kinger’s not going to put him in any trouble, he’s never going to get him out there when he’s not ready to be out there. They’ll work through that together and I really trust the relationship the two have.”

So, that’s the latest on Doughty.

Full participant today, with hopes of playing in the regular season. Sounds like everything is on the up and up there.

Photo by Jonathan Kozub/NHLI via Getty Images

With forward Alex Turcotte, it’s a situation where the player feels like he is ready to go.

Hiller was non-committal on Turcotte potentially returning to the lineup tomorrow. Personally, I thought he might have played on Thursday against Anaheim. Turcotte felt good, he had progressed into full-contact participation at practice on Wednesday and seemed to be on the right track. But, ultimately, the staff chose to proceed with caution and I support that 100 percent.

It’s not worth risking anything, even if he feels ready. Turcotte was a full participant once again today, mixing in on the fourth line with Jeff Malott, Samuel Helenius, Trevor Lewis and Akil Thomas. Assuming everyone else is good to go tomorrow up front – and everyone was on the ice today – that’s the line Turcotte would return on, in a place where he’s made a large impact.

So, we wait. Hiller will speak tomorrow around 11:45 AM, in advance of the afternoon puck drop. Expecting we will get an “in or out” tomorrow morning on Turcotte’s status and go from there.

On defenseman Joel Edmundson and forward Tanner Jeannot, I’m including those in the “ready for Game 1” category for noq.

Edmundson is day-to-day with an upper-body injury while Jeannot is week-to-week with a lower-body injury. Now, it wasn’t specified for sure if Jeannot was included in that answer. Neither player was on the ice today and I haven’t seen either on the ice on their own either. With Edmundson, he’s day-to-day and he would be ready for Game 1 if it was to be played tonight. Jeannot, I’m not sure if he was thought of in that statement, but hey, if he’s even in contention for that first round, I’d consider it a win. Kings really liked their fourth line with both Turcotte and Jeannot back involved. If they can get that line together in the upcoming series against Edmonton, it’s a big win for sure.

The other piece to look out for the possibility of resting players down the stretch.

The magic number for the Kings right now is four to secure home ice in Round 1. That’s Kings points earned and Oilers pointed dropped. Between now and Monday, when the two teams play at rogers Place, Edmonton plays twice – tonight at home versus San Jose and Sunday in Winnipeg – while the Kings play once, at home tomorrow versus Colorado. Depending on those results, the Kings could potentially have their positioning locked up before Game 82.

With that being said, results have been relatively mixed so far on if players would even want a game of. Most, so far, have said they’d prefer to keep playing through next week. Once the Kings officially clinch, we’ll get a better sense of where most players stand and I’ll share everything I’ve gotten from different guys. But, for now, the bulk of the consensus has been that most guys want to play, so not expecting anybody to sit for the Kings tomorrow beyond the group that is already out.

That’s a wrap on today. Kings and Avalanche in Los Angeles, with a big opportunity against a team that is not traveling several of its regulars for tomorrow’s game.

Photo by Ric Tapia/Getty Images