News & Notes – Kempe, Armia, Doughty, Kuemper Updates + Hiller on Buckley, Teammates on Fiala’s Absence

A few updates here, Insiders!

The Kings will not practice on Monday, as the team is scheduled to participate in a charity golf tournament to benefit the Kings Care Foundation, so sharing a few notes here from the last couple of days, as the Kings hit the ice on Friday and Sunday for hour-long practice days. The team will have one last practice tomorrow at Toyota Sports Performance Center before the sprint towards the finish begins, with 26 games remaining for the Kings. Will share a few thoughts in advance of the Vegas game on what needs to happen there, but for today, how about a few logistical notes.

Sunday’s practice saw the smallest group we’ve seen yet. Defenseman Kirill Kirsanov and goaltender Erik Portillo are back with the AHL’s Ontario Reign, after practicing with the Kings on Friday. Both players were there to chip in and contribute, as the NHL group is down a few guys, but the more important place for them to be is on the ice, getting game action with Ontario, as the Reign hit the road to Arizona for a pair of games against the Tucson Roadrunners. So, for the Kings, was just 12 forwards, six defensemen and goaltender Anton Forsberg, with an EBUG rounding out the group.

Expect a couple of fresh faces on Tuesday, though, as the Kings hit that final skate.

Jim Hiller said we can expect to see forward Adrian Kempe back at practice on Tuesday for the @LAKings!

He hasn't connected yet w/ Drew Doughty & Joel Armia, will assess their situations individually but certainly seemed optimistic all 3 would be available vs. VGK on Wednesday.

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) February 22, 2026

Forward Adrian Kempe is expected to be back with the group! Kempe saw his Olympics journey end a bit sooner than his teammates, in the quarterfinals, so he’s been back in Los Angeles for a couple of days now. Tuesday should be the day, however, with Kempe on the ice alongside Artemi Panarin for the first time as teammates. They’re expected to be linemates at 5-on-5, with Alex Laferriere at center, and represent two important parts of the power play. More on that to come tomorrow. Been looking forward to a potential Panarin/Kempe combination since the trade happened and sounds like we’ll get a glimpse of it during practice on Tuesday.

With the other three members of the Kings who haven’t come back just yet, it’s a bit more of a to be determined situation. It’s a conversation that is likely ongoing around the league, with players who advanced to the medal round, specifically the gold-medal game, having played on Sunday in Milan. Frankly, Vegas will be more impacted there than the Kings, with five players between Team USA and Team Canada. Quick transition to get back on Pacific time and play on Wednesday, but these are key players we’re talking about.

Jim Hiller said he had not yet spoken with Drew Doughty, Darcy Kuemper or Joel Armia, but seemed hopeful he could have at least some of that group on the ice on Tuesday. Kuemper didn’t see any game action at the Olympics, but with a back-to-back right out of the gate, he’s not playing more than once anyways. That feels manageable and the Kings can give him the extra day if they’d like.

With Doughty and Armia, Hiller said he wants to talk with both guys first, to get the sense of where they’re at. Are there any injuries coming out of the tournament, anything he didn’t know yet, that might factor in.

“We’re going to let Drew do his thing, we’re going to talk to him, there’s lots of stuff we just don’t know at this point,” Hiller said. “It’s a fair question for sure. It’s a long trip home and two hockey games in a row. I fully expect Juice to be at practice on Tuesday. I haven’t talked to Army about that specifically, but I would guess he would be too and then likely Drew [and Darcy Kuemper], we’ll see where he’s at.”

Little bit of an unknown but feels like something that’ll be resolved over the next 24 hours. As of today, doesn’t seem like there would be anything to question why all four players would not be options on Wednesday against Vegas, but will update that if anything changes here.

On the topic of the Olympics, the Kings will have one champion returning as goaltending coach Mike Buckley was a part of Team USA’s staff.

Here’s Hiller on Buckley and what this means for him –

“It’s great. They always say it takes a village to raise a child, we do the same thing here. There are certain people who are front and center, who get to speak, but there are so many people that help players perform the way they do. So, we’re really happy for Bucks. We’re really proud. It’s well deserved.”

Photo by Catherine Steenkeste/Getty Images

Last note on the Olympics front – It’s been a little bit of Panarin-mania over his last week or so, as the LA Kings integrate a new player into their lineup.

But that doesn’t mean they’ve forgotten about the player they’ve lost.

Both personally and professionally, forward Kevin Fiala is a huge part of this team. He’s a friend. A brother, as hockey players often say. He’s a teammate too. On the ice, he’s a really important offensive piece for a team that needs as much in that department as they can get.

After Fiala suffered a lower-leg injury at the 2026 Winter Olympic in Milan, representing his native Switzerland, the Kings learned they would be without their second-leading scorer for the remainder of the regular season at minimum. The door is open for Fiala to possibly, potentially return should the Kings progress into the playoffs, but even Head Coach Jim Hiller indicated that might be a stretch, of sorts, depending on how long that playoff run lasted

So, while there was a ton of excitement in talking about Panarin, you could tell how much it impacted the guys to see Fiala go down.

Alex Laferriere: Kevin’s such an unbelievable player and an even better person. You could see how much representing his country meant to him, going to all those World Championships every year and being able to go to the Olympics was something he was looking forward to for a long time. Seeing him go down, you just feel for him. He wanted that so badly and seeing him go down that way sucked, for our team and him as a person, just knowing how much that meant to him.

Mikey Anderson: No one likes representing their country probably more than he does. He takes big pride in it, whether it’s World Championships or anything, so that sucks for him and obviously it sucks for the team now that he’s done, but I just felt terrible for him. Hopefully he can get back to it soon, he can be around us again. Just having him around is good for the group.

Quinton Byfield: He’s one of my closest buddies here, so just seeing him go down like that, it’s something you never want to see. You know how much he’s meant to our team, how much he’s going to bring to our team in the future as well and what he means in the locker room, on the ice, just daily. It really sucks, just how excited he was to go over there and play for Switzerland, represent his country, he’s one of the best players there and it’s just something you don’t want to see and you just really feel for him.

Trevor Moore: Just a nightmare for him and for all of us, I just feel so bad for him. You know, he cares so much about Switzerland and playing for his country, I know that he’s obviously so bummed, so I just feel for him.

Didn’t want that to get lost.

Kevin Fiala’s teammates really felt for him and really miss him. They’re excited to see him when they are able to and look forward to having him back when he’s ready to return.

Kings will hold a full practice on Tuesday and then it’s all systems go over the final 26 games. Morning skate on Wednesday before the Vegas game, likely optional, and then a back-to-back the following night versus the Oilers. Nothing like jumping right back into it. Kings can’t lose too many of these, especially what you’d look at as a potential four-point game, specifically against the Oilers, who are just four points ahead of the Kings in the Pacific Division. Can’t win em all at once, though. Important one against the Golden Knights and then away we go.