2025 Training Camp Primer – Day 12 + The Impending Split

We’ve officially reached the final week of LA Kings training camp.

Seven days from now, the Kings will be on the ice with their regular-season roster, one day in advance of their regular-season opener versus Colorado.

So, this is the week where things heat up. The Kings have three preseason games remaining, beginning tomorrow evening in Boise, Idaho. I’ve said this a few times now, but that feels like a judgement day type of game. In talking with Kings Head Coach Jim Hiller, it sounds as if the final two games of the preseason will be close to a full roster. Hiller said that last season, with the Kings going to Quebec City to conclude their exhibition schedule, it wound up working out that way and the coaching staff really liked how it set things up for the regular season. Hiller and the staff have more control this year and with that control, it sounds as if they’re setting up to try and replicate what they had last season, which means we should expect a more veteran group for the games on October 2 in Utah and October 4 in Los Angeles.

So, that sets up a fun one tomorrow in Boise. The Kings take on the Utah Mammoth tomorrow evening at Idaho Central Arena in what should be a final showcase opportunity for several players on the roster bubble. There will be some veterans playing in Idaho, certainly, but there will also be players who are fighting for roster spots who will be in that game in what could be their final chance to play in the preseason before the Kings assign a larger group of players to the AHL’s Ontario Reign. That group as of this writing is not formalized. From the sounds of things, it won’t come today, with several players on the bubble expected to play in Idaho. From there, we’ll see how things shake out, but the Kings will likely place a group of players on waivers over the next 48 hours, with others on entry-level contracts also expected to head to AHL training camp, which opens today with a very small skate in El Segundo. Who exactly is in that group could come down to performances tomorrow evening.

That’s for a couple of days from now, though. For today, the Kings have two full groups of players on the ice at Toyota Sports Performance Center, beginning at 10 AM. Today’s camp groups are below, with Group B beginning the day at 10 AM at Toyota Sports Performance Center, followed by Group A at 11 AM.

Group A
Forwards (14) – Adrian Kempe, Anze Kopitar, Trevor Moore, Alex Laferriere, Alex Turcotte, Kevin Fiala, Phillip Danault, Akil Thomas, Warren Foegele, Jeff Malott, Joel Armia, Quinton Byfield, Samuel Helenius, Andrei Kuzmenko

Defensemen (8) – Brian Dumoulin, Cody Ceci, Joel Edmundson, Kyle Burroughs, Drew Doughty, Jacob Moverare, Mikey Anderson, Brandt Clarke

Goaltenders (2) – Anton Forsberg, Darcy Kuemper

Group B
Forwards (13) – Kenny Connors, Martin Chromiak, Andre Lee, Taylor Ward, Jared Wright, Glenn Gawdin, Liam Greentree, Francesco Pinelli, Aatu Jamsen, Cole Guttman, Kaleb Lawrence, Koehn Ziemmer, Logan Brown

Defensemen (8) – Joe Hicketts, Parker Berge, Tim Rego, Jack Millar, Jakub Dvorak, Samuel Bolduc, Otto Salin, Kirill Kirsanov

Goaltender (3) – Erik Portillo, Pheonix Copley, Isaiah Saville

Reign Train Underway
It’s a small group, but the AHL’s Ontario Reign are set to begin their 2025 training camp this afternoon at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo.

This group is expected to grow substantially over the next 48-72 hours, but we’re not there just yet. For today, the Reign will have 10 skaters and one goaltender on the ice for Day 1 of camp, with several players on AHL contracts and NHL contracts both set to be assigned in the coming days. For today, though, here’s the group that will hit the ice later on today –

F: Jacob Doty, Cameron Hausinger, Jack Hughes, Kenta Isogai, Keaton Mastrodonato, Ryan O’Hara, Hudson Schandor

D:Timothy Lovell, John Parker-Jones, Luc Salem,

G: Mattias Sholl

The Reign group, as noted above, will be vastly expanded by the end of the week. Consider this to be a version of Group C that we saw last week, with the Ontario coaching staff leading today’s practice. It won’t be anything overly telling, with the bulk of the expected Reign roster still in Kings training camp, but today still marks the first official day on the ice for the AHL club. They’re scheduled to skate each day this week at Toyota Sports Performance Center. More coverage from the Ontario skates to come as that group rounds out and becomes more official, as well as a look later on today at the bubble group and how they’re approaching things at this stage of camp.