Lots of positives for Kenny Connors in his first Rookie Faceoff experience

The Golden State Rookie Faceoff hosted by the Anaheim Ducks in Irvine, California wrapped up Sunday but the Kings Rookie Camp isn’t over just yet. And it seems like Kenny Connors is making the right strides to be ready for main camp.

Connors spent the weekend centering the Kings’ top line with Liam Greentree on his left and Koehn Ziemmer on his right. In Sunday’s 4-1 win over the Ducks, Connors scored three of his team’s goals, earning himself a hat trick.

A Rookie Faceoff hat trick, in advance of his first professional season……so what led Connors to this point?

Connors, a fourth-round draft pick in 2022, spent the last three seasons playing collegiate hockey for the UMass Minutemen in Hockey East. Connors is coming off his best season with the Minutemen playing in 40 games tallying 29 points.

“I think the guys that play in Hockey East are confident that that’s the best division in college hockey,” he said after Day 2 of Camp. “So I think that every game was a good test for us, no matter if we were playing the best team in the league or one of the bottom teams, every game was difficult and you can see the success that guys have coming from Hockey East. Even most recently in the league, guys coming in and having success right away in pro hockey, so that helped. UMass did a really good job in developing me as a player and a person as well, so I feel good coming into the year.”

One of the biggest challenges for guys adjusting from college to the pros is the increase in games. Playing in 72 games in the AHL or 82 in the NHL is just a tad more demanding on the body compared to a 34-game schedule that Hockey East entails.

That’s a reason why a lot of guys decide to play juniors instead of the NCAA. They want more games. Who could blame them, right? However, most college players rave about the overall experience, which also has its benefits that the CHL doesn’t provide.

“I think the first thing for me is I grew a lot as a person, I just grew up a lot,” Connors said. “Cooking every day, living with other guys, really just turning into an adult and taking care of my body the right way. I thought that when I came in at UMass and when I left, I was a completely different person. Spent a ton of time in the gym with our trainers there, they did a phenomenal job, so, I feel ready. I feel like my body’s in a good spot to turn pro.”

Excellent.

The off-ice component of Rookie Camp is just as important for the players as the on the ice. The Kings want their rookies to really feel like teammates and plan fun activities for them away from the rink. Connors is soaking it all in, whether it’s learning new systems or competing on the pickleball court. And it showed this past weekend.

Overall, there’s a lot to be impressed with Connors’ game. You might see him make the play that some other guys aren’t willing to make. Whether it’s on the forecheck or in the defensive zone, he plays a heavy game. Competing throughout the ice is something he doesn’t take lightly.

“I like to take pride in playing a full 200-foot game, I think I’ve done it my whole career of playing,” he said after practice. “I really like having the ability to shut down another line, take them out of the game. So that’s something that I take pride in on the ice and the Kings have a big emphasis on that as well. That’s something that I’m looking to do this weekend.”

Kenny cleans🧼

2-0 LAK pic.twitter.com/9ZD6AcawQI

— LA Kings (@LAKings) September 14, 2025

So, back to Sunday.

You could call his hat trick an unusual one. None of his goals were scored at even strength. His first goal, the second Kings’ goal of the game, came as he picked up his own rebound on the man advantage. It wound up being the Kings’ first and only power play goal of the weekend.

His second goal was certainly unusual. Skating on the penalty kill, Connors cleared the puck the length of the ice, as is customary in those settings. Then……well, Anaheim goaltender Tomas Suchanek literally shot the puck into his own net. Connors was awarded it because he was the last player to touch the puck on the kill. After the game, he admitted he’d never seen that before. Few of us had.

Goal three was an empty netter. Simple, yet important and effective.

The goals were awesome and a good reward for what he put into the games. On Friday, before Game 1, Connors said he wanted to “play the right way” and that’s exactly how first year Reign Head Coach Andrew Lord described the 22-year old’s play Sunday.

“He’s great,” Lord said of Connors. “He feels a bit more of a veteran compared to a lot of the rest of the group. A little bit older obviously, experienced from college but plays the right way. Can use him in any situation. He’s a big help.”

That’s a pretty good sentiment from Lord who could very well be Connors’ head coach this season with the Ontario Reign. That’s a huge change for Connors and a huge step forward.

At this point last year, Connors was in Massachusetts, preparing to play college hockey. As college players can’t attend rookie camp, this was his first time experiencing it. Wouldn’t have known it from watching.

“I don’t ever feel nervous on the ice. I don’t think, just because we’ve been doing it for so long, there’s so much work put into it. I feel comfortable with the results, because of the work I put in beforehand,” he said. “So, I don’t ever feel nerves and stuff like that. But I definitely feel more comfortable and confident on the ice with guys that I’ve been around before and stuff like that. So that helps. These guys, the staff, did a great job just preparing us throughout the week for two games against really good teams.”

Rookie Camp ends this Wednesday. On Thursday, Connors moves from a group of rookies to the same center depth chart as Anze Kopitar. Certainly a step up for him. Rookie camp, in many ways, is about building momentum heading into the real deal and setting yourself up to succeed in that setting.

So has Connors built positive momentum going into Kings Camp?

“Yes, definitely,” he said. :I think everyone in our room should feel the same way with that. I think that we competed for a full 60 tonight, a lot better than we did last night, but I think that we should all feel a sense of energy and confidence going into camp because of the two games that we played here. I’d say that the guys that I’ve talked to definitely felt the same way.”

Photo by Juan Ocampo/NHLI via Getty Images