LA Kings Announce 2026 Rookie Camp + Rookie Faceoff Roster & Schedule

The LA Kings have announced their roster for 2026 Rookie Camp and the 2026 Rookie Faceoff, to be held from September 11 – 15.

The camp will begin on September 11 at Toyota Sports Performance Center with a full-team practice session, which is open to the public. The group will then travel to San Jose to play three games in four days at the 2026 Rookie Faceoff at Tech CU Arena in San Jose. The Kings will take on San Jose on Saturday, September 12 at 5 PM, followed by an afternoon matinee the next day versus Anaheim on Sunday, September 13 at 3 PM. Following a day off on Monday, the Kings will play their final game of the event on Tuesday, September 15 against Utah at 1 PM. The players will then return home to begin main training camp later in the week.

The full schedule is listed below –

LA Kings Rookie Faceoff Schedule
Friday, September 11 – Practice @ 11:45 AM, Toyota Sports Performance Center
Saturday, September 12 Game vs. San Jose @ 5:00 PM, Tech CU Arena
Sunday, September 13 Game vs. Anaheim @ 3:00 PM, Tech CU Arena
Monday, September 14 Day Off
Tuesday, September 15 Game vs. Utah @ 1:00 PM, Tech CU Arena

The roster for the Kings will have 14 forwards, 10 defensemen and three goaltenders to play the three games. The roster is a little bit smaller than we’ve seen in years past, especially with the forwards. A big reason for that is the reduced NHL preseason schedule. With only four NHL exhibition games, there will be fewer opportunities for younger players to participate in NHL exhibition contests, so these games are more important. You’ll see lots of key prospects play in all three games, especially up front, which will give those players additional opportunities to help supplement having fewer NHL preseason games.

Headlining the roster are two players who played in the NHL with the Kings last season – Jared Wright and Kenny Connors. Wright was an NHL regular in the second half of the season and played in all four playoff games versus Colorado. He’s got a new number – 25 – and will be the most experienced player on the roster, one who is hoping to leverage this tournament towards a push to make the NHL roster later in the month. Connors made his NHL debut last season as well and played in two games in total. He had a good season in Ontario and is now looking to push for an NHL opportunity as well. While that is perhaps more likely to come in season, he’s made an impression internally and could be in the first center called-up mix.

Defenseman Henry Brzustewicz, the Kings’ first-round pick in 2025, is back for his second Rookie Faceoff. Brzustewicz has his entry-level contract signed and will come to main training camp looking to make a professional roster. Could see a comfortable pairing at this event with Jared Woolley, after the two spent a couple of seasons together in the OHL with London. Woolley will most certainly begin his professional career this season and has won just about everything a player can win at the junior level, including back-to-back Memorial Cups.

The Kings will have five players drafted this past June in 2026 who will participate in the Rookie Faceoff, headlined by second-round picks Adam Goljer and Liam Lefebvre. First-round selection Elton Hermansson will not participate, as he is already into his season in Sweden with MoDo, so it doesn’t make a ton of sense to disrupt his progress there. Also attending from the 2026 Draft Class are Lucas Ambrosio, Giorgos Pantelas and Yegor Rybkin.

Perhaps the deepest area of the roster will be in net, with three drafted goaltenders participating. Would expect to see each goaltender get 60 minutes of action. George is now at his third Rookie Faceoff and turned in an excellent performance last season in Irvine. Slukynsky has never been eligible to attend, having played NCAA hockey, so he’ll make his tournament debut this fall. Rybkin was selected in the third round back in June and we’ll also see. him for the first time. George and Slukynsky are set to begin their first full professional seasons this fall, which creates an interesting situation with two of the organization’s top five prospects competing for the same net at the AHL level. Both have played in two career AHL games and both were impressive.

The full roster is linked HERE and shown below –

Goaltenders (3) – Carter George, Yegor Rybkin, Hampton Slukynsky

Defensemen (10) – Lucas Ambrosio, Henry Brzustewicz, Nate Corbet, Jakub Dvorak, Adam Goljer, Kirill Kirsanov, Michael Mastrodomenico, Giorgos Pantelas, Otto Salin, Jared Woolley

Forwards (13) – Jan Chovan, Vojtech Cihar, Kenny Connors, Brendan Gorman, Jack Hughes, Kenta Isogai, Kaleb Lawrence, Liam Lefebvre, Jimmy Lombardi, Elias Schneider, Grant Slukynsky, Jared Wright, Koehn Ziemmer

From the team’s official release –

The LA Kings announced the roster for the team’s 2026 Rookie Camp, which will take place from Friday, Sept. 11 through Tuesday, Sept. 15, at Toyota Sports Performance Center (TSPC) in El Segundo, Calif., and the 2026 Rookie Faceoff at Tech CU Arena and Sharks Ice at San Jose, from Friday, Sept. 11 through Tuesday, Sept. 15. The complete 27-player roster, which features 14 forwards, 10 defensemen, and three goaltenders.

Highlighting the roster are 14 players returning from last year’s group, including forwards Jared Wright and Kenny Connors, who each made their NHL debut for the Kings in the 2025-26 campaign. Defensemen Henry Brzustewicz and Jared Woolley will reunite for their second and third Rookie Camp appearances, respectively. Woolley recorded a +32 rating in 66 regular-season Ontario Hockey League (OHL) games last year with London Knights and Kitchener Rangers, the eighth-best among all league defensemen and the 17th-best among all skaters. Brzustewicz finished his sophomore OHL season tied for the third-most goals and owning the seventh-most points by any league blueliner, posting 54 points (19-35=54) in 59 appearances.

Also featured on the roster are five of the 11 selections that the Kings made at the 2026 NHL Draft in Buffalo, N.Y., this past June: goaltender Yegor Rybkin (89th overall), forward Liam Lefebvre (46th overall), and defensemen Adam Goljer (49th overall), Giorgos Pantelas (153rd overall), and Lucas Ambrosio (223rd overall).

A total of 11 members of the 2026 Rookie Camp roster suited up for all or parts of last season with the Ontario Reign in the American Hockey League (AHL), including forwards Jared Wright, Kenny Connors, Kenta Isogai, Jack Hughes, Kaleb Lawrence, Koehn Ziemmer, and Brendan Gorman, defensemen Jakub Dvořák, Kirill Kirsanov, and Henry Brzustewicz. Reign goaltender Hampton Slukynsky, who has posted a 2-0-0 record with a 1.00 goals-against average (GAA) and a .957 save-percentage (SV%) in his professional career so far, will be joined by his brother and former teammate at Western Michigan University, Grant Slukynsky, for their first Rookie Camp with the Kings.

The five-day rookie tournament will consist of top prospects from the LA Kings, San Jose Sharks, Anaheim Ducks, Colorado Avalanche, Utah Mammoth, and Vegas Golden Knights. All six teams will be in action on Sept. 12 and 13; on Sept. 15, Utah and Los Angeles will be the only teams to play.

The full game schedule for the 2026 Rookie Faceoff is as follows with tickets available for purchase here. Rink locations for the games are still to be determined.