2025 Training Camp Primer – Day 8 + Brzustewicz & Woolley Return to OHL-London

Day 8, Insiders!

At the start of camp, I wrote about how I felt like this training camp can be easily broken into segments. Consider this segment 3. Segment 1 consisted of Days 1-3. Three evenly split groups, long days, lots to work on. Segment two was the past four days, consisting of three games, a handful of practices for those not playing and also a day off. Now we’ve reached Segment 3 and it’s where we look at things a bit differently. The Kings have trimmed the roster down a bit, mostly consisting of younger players who were always headed back to their CHL teams, despite some really impressive showings, but we haven’t reached the NHL/AHL split day just yet.

What we’re looking at today are two groups. Group A contains the bulk of the players who are in a true fight for an NHL roster spot, while Group B has players who are likely a bit further outside the roster picture. There are exceptions, as I think players like Taylor Ward and Liam Greentree should fancy themselves at least on the radar, with preseason games to impress still ahead of them. Couple others could still be on that radar also. But today’s groups represent more of a true split between where players are at. A look below at what the breakdown looks like for today’s practices –

Group A
Forwards (15) – Adrian Kempe, Anze Kopitar, Trevor Moore, Alex Laferriere, Alex Turcotte, Kevin Fiala, Phillip Danault, Akil Thomas, Warren Foegele, Jeff Malott, Joel Armia, Andre Lee, Quinton Byfield, Samuel Helenius, Andrei Kuzmenko

Defensemen (9) – Brian Dumoulin, Cody Ceci, Joel Edmundson, Kyle Burroughs, Drew Doughty, Joe Hicketts, Jacob Moverare, Mikey Anderson, Brandt Clarke

Goaltenders (4) – Erik Portillo, Pheonix Copley, Anton Forsberg, Darcy Kuemper

Group B
Forwards (15) – Kenny Connors, Martin Chromiak, Jacob Doty, Kenta Isogai, Taylor Ward, Jared Wright, Glenn Gawdin, Jack Hughes, Liam Greentree, Francesco Pinelli, Aatu Jamsen, Cole Guttman, Kaleb Lawrence, Koehn Ziemmer, Logan Brown

Defensemen (7) – Parker Berge, Tim Rego, Jack Millar, Jakub Dvorak, Samuel Bolduc, Otto Salin, Kirill Kirsanov

Goaltender (1) – Isaiah Saville

Group A will hit the ice at 11 AM today, followed by Group B at 12:30 PM, with a small wrinkle expected for Group A’s skate today.

London Bound
In a pair of transactions earlier on today, defensemen Henry Brzustewicz and Jared Woolley are headed back to the OHL to re-join the London Knights for the 2025-26 season. This is relatively expected, as both players got some terrific experience at camp, working into two games apiece, before heading back to the OHL in the quest for a second consecutive Memorial Cup championship.

“It’s hard to believe that they’re a pair in juniors together, a couple hard guys to play against when I think about juniors,” Hiller said of the duo. “Both are big, both are competitive, both move the puck. When they go back, I’m sure they’re going to get big minutes for a good London team again. They’re developing really nicely.”

It was an impressive showing overall for both players.

Brzustewicz came into camp at 18-years-old after the Kings selected him in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft. Brzustewicz looked like a smooth customer at the 2025 Golden State Rookie Faceoff earlier this month and entering into the exhibition season, I wondered how he might fare. The answer was quite impressively, as he showcased many the traits that led to him being a first-round pick just a few months prior.

“What I really liked is, much like our team, the third period was his best period,” Hiller said of Brustewicz on Tuesday. “It was different, a higher level and he had the hockey sense. We were just talking in the room, he pounded a couple into the pads on the offensive blue line then he went off the end wall, so you can see he’s got a real keen and offensive hockey sense.”

For Woolley, he finished his second training camp with one more NHL game played than he got the year prior, as he played in both games versus the Ducks. He looked much more comfortable this season and I thought a lot of the things that made him an exciting prospect were on display, along with some mistakes made that come with the territory of being a 19-year-old defenseman. For Woolley, he earned the praise of Hiller, as Brzustewicz did, and leaves Los Angeles with a lot of good things to take back.

“I thought he did a good job,” Hiller said of Woolley after last night’s win over Anaheim. “Sometimes, what ends up happening is you just simplify things, right, because you’re a little worried about making mistakes, because the other guys can hurt you. Sometimes that actually helps your game as a defenseman.”

For both players, they head back to London with a mission. With two consecutive OHL titles and a Memorial Cup win just this past spring, the two players are expected to play a key role on another strong and contending team in London. Both came here and did what they could to make an impression. It’s safe to say they’ve done that, as they now prepare for resume their OHL seasons with the Kings.

For those expected to continue their seasons here in El Segundo, look for practice to kick off in a bit, at 11 AM Pacific. Group 2 will follow 90 minutes later. More to come this evening on the coverage front!