Practice Report, 4/10 – Updates on Byfield, Ceci, Malott + Forsberg’s Impact, Playoff Status, Kuzmenko/Turcotte Skate

Not too many more of these to go, Insiders!

A mostly full-team practice here in Los Angeles. In April, you don’t have those opportunities all that often, but we saw one here here today, with the following contingencies.

Forwards Quinton Byfield and Jeff Malott, as well as defenseman Cody Ceci, all did not skate today.

Per Interim Head Coach D.J. Smith, Byfield and Ceci are good to go tomorrow afternoon versus Edmonton while Malott will be a game-time decision. Should Malott not be able to go, I’d likely expect to see forward Mathieu Joseph check in, as the healthy extra up front.

Byfield, as we’ve known, has been playing through injury for a bit now. He was around the rink today, just not on the ice. Makes sense to manage his time here, considering the role he plays and the likelihood that he’ll spend a lot of time tomorrow on the ice with Connor McDavid. For Ceci, no injury has been reported, so not sure if there’s anything up there, but it’s not expected to impact his availability for tomorrow’s game.

With Malott, he took a puck to the head during last night’s game against Vancouver, drawing some blood around his ear. He was helped to the bench by his linemate, Samuel Helenius, though he did later return to the game after he went to the locker room. Malott played in the third period, but the play certainly looked very painful and he was not on the ice today. Tough player, who will be in if he’s able to.

For those who were on the ice today, here’s a rough outline of what we saw –

Panarin – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Joseph – Laferriere
Armia – Laughton – Wright
Helenius – Ward

Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Moverare – Dumoulin

Forsberg / Kuemper

So, would expect to see Byfield and Ceci in their usual spots in the lineup. Byfield will go with Trevor Moore and Alex Laferriere and Ceci will play with Brian Dumoulin. For Malott, he’ll slot in with Helenius and Ward, should he be able to go. If not, it’ll likely be Joseph in that spot.

For Byfield specifically, that likely comes with matchups versus McDavid. It’ll be shared, likely, considering the shift length McDavid is able to muster and the amount of minutes he plays, especially with Leon Draisaitl out. The plan, though, isn’t to just defend McDavid. With Byfield between Moore and Laferriere, that line has been quite productive for the Kings offensively as well and that’s what the Kings are hoping they’re able to do tomorrow.

“They can all skate, they can all make plays, so not only are they going to be above you and check you, they can make you pay,” Smith said. “I think that’s key to a real good shutdown line is that it isn’t just about playing defense and defending, it’s they make you check, and that’s what I expect to see tomorrow.”

Regarding forwards Alex Turcotte and Andrei Kuzmenko, both players skated earlier today, in non-contact jerseys, apart from the main group. Turcotte has been out on more of a day-to-day basis with an undisclosed injury, though his progress being back on the ice is a positive. For Kuzmenko, he is working his way back from a torn meniscus. Neither player has practiced with the full team since their respective injuries, so we’ll wait and see.

While Turcotte is on more of a day-to-day timeline, Kuzmenko has already been ruled out for the remainder of the regular season. Here’s the latest from Smith on where Kuzmenko is at –

“He’s doing fine, there was some talk that he may skate a little bit more, but we don’t think he’s there quite yet. Now, we’ll see, in another 7-10 days where he’s at, but we’re going to have to take care of our own business to allow him an opportunity to maybe get back in.”

Looking ahead to tomorrow, there was no confirmation of the starting goaltender given by Smith. He said that final conversation would come this afternoon. Anton Forsberg’s play as of late, however, has been extremely impressive. Another victory last night versus Vancouver, which makes three consecutive wins for the Swedish netminder. His teammates have certainly taken notice and to see a great teammate, who works as hard as anyone behind the scenes, succeed has been rewarding for the group.

Brandt Clarke – He’s just a great person overall. We’re thrilled to see him playing so well. Our goalie tandem is awesome on and off the ice, they’re just two great human beings, two great goalies. For him to be playing the way he is right now, we’re so lucky. He’s standing on his head. Whether there’s a mess up in the d-zone or an odd-man rush, he’s so poised, so calm and always making that crucial save. We’re lucky that he’s playing so well right now.

Alex Laferriere – It’s huge. I mean, he’s been unbelievable for us all year and he’s really come up big these past couple games. It’s so rewarding for us to see him get rewarded in that way because we see how hard he works every single day. We see him stretching, working out upstairs, getting on the ice early, doing all this stuff and yeah, it makes us so happy for him and it makes us want to play even harder in front of him.

Would expect to see 31 between the pipes tomorrow, though not confirmed at this time.

Speaking of tomorrow, the Oilers are always a known quantity. And what the Kings need to do down the stretch, starting tomorrow, is also a known quantity.

The magic number to clinch a playoff berth is now 6. The Kings have four games remaining, so they are fully in control of their playoff fate, with a buffer built in, knowing they need to win three of those four games to guarantee playoff participation. That number is currently against both Nashville and Winnipeg, meaning that in order for the Kings to get external help tomorrow as it pertains to a clinch, they would need both the Jets and Predators to lose. However, what’s encouraging is that the Kings have control of that fate, with a 4-1-1 homestand and help around the league.

1 PM puck drop tomorrow, Insiders, so no morning skate. D.J. Smith will speak pre-game from Crypto.com Arena and away we go for the final time on home ice during the 2025-26 regular season.