LA Kings Notebook: Rookie Faceoff, Training Camp & More

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With the Rookie Faceoff coming to a close last Monday (Sept. 16) and training camp starting a couple of days ago, the band is back together in Los Angeles, and things are finally starting to get serious.

Los Angeles Kings Notebook
Los Angeles Kings Notebook (The Hockey Writers)

Let’s dive into how the prospects looked and what’s been the main topics regarding the Los Angeles Kings early on. 

Rookie Faceoff Recap

The Kings had a mediocre Rookie Faceoff going 1-1-1. They lost 2-0 to the Vegas Golden Knights, 4-3 to the Utah Hockey Club in overtime, and beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1 in overtime. The Kings’ young goaltenders looked sharp and with how iffy their current goaltending situation is right now, seeing Erik Portillo and Carter George play the way that they did should bring a sigh of relief to management. 

Much like the big club, goals were hard to come by for the Kings’ rookies. That being said, most of these types of rookie showcases end up being low-scoring because a majority of these players are being thrown together for the first time with no structure or systems. It’s essentially a free-for-all where players go out there and show what they can do individually. Speaking about individual performances, there were a few players who stood out more than the rest. 

Brandt Clarke

This tournament was a walk in the park for the 21-year-old defenseman. If there were any doubts about whether or not Brandt Clarke was ready for the opportunity to play his first full season in the NHL there shouldn’t be anymore. He was clearly the best player on the ice and he showed just how ready he is for this next step in his career. 

Aatu Jamsen

Seventh-round picks who haven’t played a season in North America don’t usually make enough noise for people to talk about them. That isn’t the case for Finnish winger Aatu Jamsen. The 22-year-old was drafted 190th overall by the Kings back in 2020 and is gearing up for his first season in North America with the Ontario Reign. It’s clear that Jamsen has some adjusting to do playing on a smaller North American rink, but he picked up four points over the course of the tournament and always seemed to leave a positive impact on the ice. Speed, creativity, and work ethic were three things that stood out in Jamsen’s game throughout those three games.

Related: Predicting the Los Angeles Kings’ 2024–25 Stats Leaders

Erik Portillo & Carter George

When a team is not 100% confident in their current situation it’s nice to look down the pipeline and see two players that are on the path of changing that. Those two players are the top two goalie prospects for the Kings, Portillo and George. Portillo just recently signed a three-year extension with the Kings, and after a very solid season with the Reign, it was no surprise that this year’s Rookie Faceoff presented him with zero difficulty. George was selected 57th overall by the Kings in this year’s NHL Draft, but with the confidence and poise he showed throughout his first Rookie Faceoff, you would have thought he’d have played in one before. 

Koehn Ziemmer

Throughout those three games there seemed to be one player who was constantly around the puck. Koehn Ziemmer seemed to be a puck magnet and was dangerous around the net. He attacked the offensive zone with speed and was always looking to create. Ziemmer is playing for the chance to make the Reign’s roster this season and after his performance at the Rookie Faceoff, he’s on the right path. 

Training Camp Is a Go

Kings training camp is underway, with 68 total players in attendance for this year’s camp. 

Players are already getting acclimated on the ice as Days 1 and 2 are in the books. There are three groups: A, B, and C, and the players in each group will be subject to change daily. The Kings will be on the ice every day until Wednesday, Sept. 25, except on Tuesday, Sept. 24 when all groups get the day off. 

Groups A and B will consist of NHL regulars who will practice and play scrimmages. Some prospects who played in the Rookie Faceoff will get a chance to get some looks with the top two groups as well. Group C on the other hand will be all prospects who aren’t competing for a spot on the Kings’ NHL roster. Group C will not participate in scrimmages either. 

The Kings will play six preseason games this year with two of them being against Eastern Conference teams at the Videotron Centre in Quebec City. LA’s season opener comes later than most of the other teams in the NHL. 

Are the Kings on the Path of Changing Their Identity?

Most of these guys have been here before, but one thing that players have noticed that has stuck out more than in other years is the amplified physicality shown throughout these first two skates. 

Why might that be the case? Well over the past few seasons, there has been a lack of physicality throughout the Kings’ lineup, and with the signings general manager (GM) Rob Blake made over the summer, it’s something that has clearly been addressed. Tanner Jeannot, Warren Foegele, and Joel Edmundson are three players who can bring a lot of that grit and physicality, and in no more than 48 hours their style of play has infected the rest of the group. 

“We signed a lot of physical players and I think they kind of started that off right from the start and then everybody kind of jumped in,” defenseman Drew Doughty said. “I don’t know that we had enough of that throughout our lineup […] I thought at times we could get pushed around a little bit but I don’t see that happening anymore.”

“Much more physical than it’s been in the past years but I think it’s good, it gets guys back into game pace and play and everything, so I think it’s important. It will help us out once we start playing games for real,” defenseman Mikey Anderson said. “You want guys that are able to do that night in and night out, don’t complain, kind of have that as their bread and butter, play heavier, physical, and kind of the grind game we can call it.”

Head coach Jim Hiller shared the same point of view as his two top defensemen.

“I think with some of the players that have been added I think the one obvious thing is you look at some size, some physicality, we all know those are playoff attributes for sure,” he said. “The game (scrimmage) had a tone to it that I haven’t seen […] but the physicality and the general seriousness of the scrimmage is what really impressed me.”

The Kings’ identity is surely about to change with an added effort to not be a team that gets pushed around this season. As Hiller said, the types of attributes he has seen from his group in the early stages of training camp are ones that help teams find success in the playoffs, and that is exactly what the Kings will strive to do this season.

We’re in the extremely early stages of the 2024-25 season and already there is a different mindset with this Kings team that players seem to be excited about.

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