9/30 Preview – Today’s Game Group + Roster Moves & Gearing Up For Game 1

WHO: Los Angeles Kings (2-0-1) @ Anaheim Ducks (1-1-1)
WHAT: 2024 Preseason Game
WHEN: Monday, September 30 @ 7:00 PM Pacific
WHERE: Honda Center – Anaheim, CA
HOW TO FOLLOW: VIDEO: Bally Sports West – AUDIO – ESPN LA App / LA Kings App – TWITTER: @dooleylak & @lakings

TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The Kings will make the short trip to Anaheim this evening for their final preseason game before heading off to Quebec City, taking on the Ducks at Honda Center.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: The Kings defeated the Ducks by a 3-2 final score on Saturday afternoon in Ontario.

The Kings got three goals from their top offensive line in that game, with Adrian Kempe, Anze Kopitar and Alex Laferriere all chipping in with multi-point days. None of those three players are expected to dress tonight, though several of the teams other veteran players should play tonight in Orange County.

KINGS VITALS: Looking like we’ll see a group today similar to the team that went to Vegas last week, as the Kings visit the Ducks.

The NHL tandem appears to be in net tonight, with Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich set to man the crease for the Kings in Anaheim. Rittich got the full 60 minutes on Saturday in Ontario, with Kuemper perhaps set to do the same here tonight in Anaheim. Kuemper has made one preseason appearance to date, logging 40 minutes against Vegas as he made 13 saves on 14 shots in two periods against the Golden Knights.

For today’s lineup, the Kings will have at least a couple of lines with NHL experience in action, along with six defensemen who spent the bulk of last season playing in the NHL.

The expected game group is shown below –

Forwards (12): Byfield, Danault, Fagemo, Fiala, Foegele, Helenius, Jeannot, Lee, Moore, Parker-Jones, Thomas, Turcotte

Defensemen (6): Anderson, Burroughs, Englund, Gavrikov, Moverare, Spence

Goalies (2): Kuemper, Rittich

Perhaps the most interesting thing to note here today is having four left-shot defensemen on the blueline, with Jordan Spence and Kyle Burroughs both shooting right. This morning, the pairings looked to be as follows –

Anderson – Spence
Gavrikov – Burroughs
Englund – Moverare

Confirmed here from Head Coach Jim Hiller.

That is certainly a bit of a changeup. Anderson has some experience playing on the right, when Drew Doughty was injured during the 2021-22 season. I’ve seen Englund, Gavrikov and Moverare play mostly on the left side with the Kings. That is one part of tonight’s lineup I’m interested in seeing, especially if it is indeed Moverare on the right and the other pairings juggled around a bit as shown above.

Up front, look for the Jeannot/Danault/Moore and Fiala/Byfield/Foegele lines to play together, as they have throughout camp. Beyond those guys, the alignment that makes sense to me would be Turcotte/Thomas/Fagemo and Lee/Helenius/Parker-Jones, but a few different combinations there would not be surprising.

ANAHEIM VITALS: The Ducks will take on the Kings for the second consecutive exhibition contest.

Reports from Anaheim seem to be suggesting a less-veteran heavy group. Derek Lee of the Sporting Tribune had the following skaters in the “non-game group”, with that list consisting of the bulk of the team’s NHL group. To be determined on how the Ducks align tonight.

The non-game group skating today:

Gauthier-Carlsson-Killorn
Johnston-Carpenter-Regenda
Katchouk-Gaucher-Sennecke
Fabbri-McTavish

Fowler-Warren
LaCombe-Gudas
Mintyukov-Dionicio

Dostál-Buteyets#FlyTogether

— Derek Lee (@Derek_Lee27) September 30, 2024

Notes –
Roster Moves
Yesterday, the Kings assigned a large group of players to AHL training camp, with the Reign taking the ice today for Game 1 of camp today.

Four players on that list – Glenn Gawdin, Joe Hicketts, Tyler Madden and Reilly Walsh – were placed on waivers yesterday at 11 AM with the purpose of being assigned to the Reign. All four players cleared waivers today at 11 AM and have been assigned to Ontario, with the quartet od players on the training-camp roster for Day 1 of Reign camp today.

Additionally, the Kings have placed forward Jeff Malott on waivers today, for the purpose of being assigned to Ontario. Malott will be on waivers for 24 hours until 11 AM tomorrow. If he clears, the Kings are expected to assign Malott to Ontario as well. Also expected to be assigned are goaltender Dryden McKay and forward John Parker-Jones, who are on AHL contracts but are still with the NHL club, with Parker-Jones expected to play tonight in Anaheim.

That would leave, by my count, a group of 28 players traveling to Quebec City to complete NHL training camp – 16 forwards, nine defensemen and three goaltenders.

As always, we’ll see how tonight goes with regards to health and performance, but today’s move with Malott seems to bring the Kings close to finding their group going to play in the final two games of the exhibition season.

Gearing Things Up
“We’re gearing up. We’ve got a funny preseason, because we head to Quebec, we have a pretty good gap before we start the season for for me, I’m thinking of it as a four-game preseason. Now, we’re getting into kind of our guys getting in there and seeing if they can run with it.”

That was Jim Hiller, speaking on the four-game block of games that began in Ontario on Saturday.

He’s right – We’re approaching the time of locking in for the regular season. As you can see above, tonight’s lineup is not a full lineup for Game 1, but the majority of the players will be in the mix. We’re seeing lines play together, with the Danault and Byfield lines each featuring for their second game together this preseason. We’re seeing a line of guys in the mix for the fourth line, with Fagemo skating alongside Turcotte and Thomas. We get the chance to see Andre Lee and Samuel Helenius play another game together, two guys who have clearly caught the eye of the coaching staff and are on the verge of securing their place on the plane to Quebec.

For players like Danault, for example, it’s simply about getting himself to where he needs to be to for Game 1.

For a player like Helenius, for example, he’s trying to make an impact. While he’s still a young player, who does not require waivers to be assigned to the NHL, he’s made a pretty big impression on Jim Hiller and the rest of the coaching staff throughout training camp.

“Sammy knows his role,” Hiller said. “A lot of times, players have a hard time finding or accepting what their role is going to be. Everybody would like to score goals, but when you get to pro hockey, it’s difficult, so there’s different roles you can assume. Sammy finishes his checks, he’s winning faceoffs, he penalty kills and he does it every shift. So, credit to him, but also credit to the coaches in Ontario, they’ve got him locked into his role and he’s playing well.”

On the blueline, the situation is different. The Kings suffered a blow with the injury to Drew Doughty, which will cause a shuffling of players to compensate. These games are perhaps even more important for the team’s group of defensemen. We’ve seen Kyle Burroughs step into the starting six, but this morning, he partnered Vladislav Gavrikov, not Mikey Anderson. I assume we’ll see different players tried in various positions, as the Kings look to get the right mix on the backend for Game 1, as the Kings look to try and raise their level in the aggregate to help fill Doughty’s void.

“I don’t think one guy can [just replace Doughty], to be honest with you,” Spence said. “That’s why I think it has to be the whole d-core and even the forwards as well to step up, being vocal in the dressing room and being leaders on the ice. It’s not just one guy, I think it’s everyone that has to step up to win games and do the best we can.”

All in all, tonight’s game is about preparation for most, but it’s also a chance to make an impression for those vying for a roster spot on Opening Night. You never know where things might go, so look at those playing towards the bottom of the lineup trying to make their impact on the game.

Kings and Ducks, 7 PM tonight! Jared Shafran will have the coverage tonight from Honda Center and I’ll have the rest of camp from Quebec City, with lots more to come.