If the Kings are to be considered serious contenders in the postseason, the two most obvious pieces they need to add would be a legit second-line center and a puck-moving defenseman on the left side.

Given his pick of the litter, GM Ken Holland would most likely opt for that center to be a right shot too. But, hey, beggars can’t be choosers; so, we digress.

How about some blueline help, though?

Out in Carolina, they appear to have somebody tailor-made when it comes to a player Holland should be looking to add to his roster.

Enter, Alexander Nikishin. He turns 25 years old tomorrow, stands 6-foot-3 and checks in at a sturdy 218 lbs. Last season, his first in North America, he earned a Stanley Cup with the Hurricanes after posting 33 points (11G, 22A) in 81 regular-season games. Although he suited up for 17 postseason contests, he only recorded one assist in that stretch. Curious, yet also somewhat balanced with a reduction in his ice time, moving from 18:11 during the regular season down to 14:50 in the postseason.

Let’s not get too hung up on this point. He’s a highly sought after defenseman right now and would instantly have a positive impact on LA’s lineup.

Now comes the question coach Peter Laviolette is likely asking as well: how can the Kings land Nikishin?

There are two key areas to investigate.

Assets Going to Carolina

Elliotte Friedman has recently reported what Hurricanes GM Eric Tulsky is supposedly looking for in return. “I think that Carolina wants something akin to two first-rounders for Nikishin,” Friedman stated on his 32 Thoughts podcast. “Whether it’s two first-round picks or comparable talent, I think that’s kind of in the area of what they’re looking for.”

This is interesting for a few reasons.

First, when the Kings and ‘Canes spoke about a potential deal for Nikishin around the NHL Draft in June, the apparent ask was a package of three assets: a 2026 first-round pick, a young NHL roster player, and one of LA’s top-10 prospects. We were also led to believe the roster player wouldn’t be Brandt Clarke or Quinton Byfield, so there’s that — which makes sense, because those two, along with Adrian Kempe and Alex Laferriere, are probably the four non-starters to any trade conversation Holland is likely to engage in.

Regardless, they couldn’t come to a deal and the Kings eventually moved on with their summer.

If the current asking price is two first rounders, or the equivalent, that means the Kings would need to offer up their 2027 first rounder and one of Henry Brzustewicz or Elton Hermansson.

Rather than debate that, let’s just assume Holland would agree to something like that. Then what?

Making the Money Work

We’ll open with the headline statement here and then explain. Holland swinging a deal for Nikishin would almost surely need to be a three-team deal to make it work for the Kings.

Here’s why.

The young rearguard is said to be looking for a contract carrying an AAV of around $7-9M.

Elliotte Friedman: I mentioned on Monday’s pod that Alexander Nikishin is believed to be looking for a $9 million AAV over five years. I had a few sources reach out to say they think that could be lower in the right situation – Sportsnet (9/29)

— NHL Rumour Report (@NHLRumourReport) September 30, 2026

For the Kings to get anywhere close to those numbers, they’d have to move out at least two contracts.

Currently, the team only has about $1.8M in available cap space.

So, how would they move out money?

Using data from the image above to come up with a list of candidates is actually the easiest part of this exercise.

Immediately, the following names can be removed from consideration: Panarin, Byfield, Kempe, Zuccarello, Laferriere, Haula, Laughton, and Clarke.

What about Doughty? Scratch him too, as he was just made captain a few weeks ago.

We’ll also remove Turcotte, Helenius, Lee, Perry, and Gustafsson. They all carry AAVs of $1M or less. That’s not going to move the needle. Sure, just about any one of them could be included in a package, they just won’t be the focal point due to the fact they won’t help clear several millions of dollars off the books.

That leaves Moore, Armia, Edmundson, Dumoulin, Anderson, Ceci, and two goaltenders. Assuming Darcy Kuemper would be difficult to trade right now, the highest AAV on that list is Cody Ceci’s $4.5M, followed by Trevor Moore’s $4.2M AAV.

Neither of those contracts on their own would clear enough money for Nikishin.

Meaning, Holland would need to move at least two contracts out.

Now add in the potential that Carolina doesn’t want any of those players in return. Thus, the Kings would need to find at least one other team — perhaps even two — to move a pair of contracts out, just to free up the money for Nikishin’s new contract.

Remember, he’s a restricted free agent at the moment. He doesn’t have a deal in place. Trading for his rights wouldn’t do LA any good. They need to sign him in order to have him play.

Recapping all of this, Holland would need to be willing to part with a first-round pick and one of Brzustewicz or Hermansson. Then, he’d need to find a way to move out two contracts to clear the money needed.

If he could pull that off, moving one of the defensemen would be ideal because LA would be adding Nikishin to their group. The other obvious contract to move is Moore. Not because of the player, but because of the money. That’s all we’re talking about in this exercise.

So, which NHL team can Holland call and entice to take two contracts off his hands? And what sweeteners will he have to include? Will there need to be cap retention? For example, eating half of Ceci’s contract only complicates things even further.

Taking a step back to pause and reassess the whole situation, it seems fairly complex.

Impossible? No.

Realistic? Not likely.

However, if Holland is serious about pursuing Nikishin, he’ll need to get after this quickly because other teams are circling around Carolina too.

One final note, trying to use Kevin Fiala’s potential LTIR money isn’t really an option for reasons explained in the article linked below.

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MORE LA KINGS NEWS:

Why Have the Kings Not Put Kevin Fiala on LTIR?

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Let’s begin with a public service announcement: this article contains math. Don’t worry, though; it should be easy enough. No reason to be scared.

Earlier this week, all NHL teams had to submit their Opening Night rosters to the league office. Essentially, clubs had to prove that they were compliant with the agreed-upon salary cap for 2026-27.

In the case of Los Angeles and GM Ken Holland, they started out the season with 22 active players — one shy of the 23-player maximum (more on that in just a moment) — and Kevin Fiala on injured reserve.

Several have asked: why wasn’t Fiala placed on long-term injured reserve? The other common question has been, when will he return? We’ll answer them in reverse order.

General Timeline on Fiala Situation

When it was announced by the team just before training camp that Fiala had a second procedure late in the summer, it took some by surprise. When Kings management was last talking publicly about Fiala he was skating at the team’s training facility in April, and there was even optimism surrounding a possible return if the Kings advanced deep enough in the playoffs.

Would he have been cleared for postseason action at some point? Nobody will ever really know for sure. However, after LA was eliminated by Colorado, the general assumption was Fiala would be ready for camp.

So, what happened?

Injury recoveries are often unpredictable; that’s the best answer.

“He skated in May, felt good, and then when he came back here in August and started skating with the guys and the pace, he just felt something wasn’t a hundred percent, so he saw a couple of
doctors and had this surgery,” Holland said on Sept. 17, during a press conference to announce Drew Doughty as captain.

“We’re confident that everything’s going to be good, but I think until you go forward you never really know,” continued LA’s General Manager. “But the timeline is, from surgery, two weeks can’t do anything. Then, get the stitches out. They don’t want him to sweat and risk having something bad happen.”

Timeline wise, Fiala is expected to start ramping things up slowly; to be expected.

“He’ll go on the ice [with a trainer] for a period of time, a few days to a week,” Holland speculated. “Then we’re hoping he escalates up to skating with [assistant coach Derik Johnson], and we’re hoping in three to four weeks, he’s going to be on the ice with the team. But we’ll see how his body reacts.”

It’s important to note that some of this will happen away from the team. Not necessarily in private, but not during regular practice. Which makes that latter point really the first step to any potential return — when will he join the team for practice?

Recently, there’s been a little chatter around Fiala being available for practice sometime in mid-October.

Just taking a quick peek at the schedule LA is home the week of Oct. 11-17. Then, leave for an Eastern Conference road trip, spread over five games between Oct. 20-27.

There’s no rule stating a player has to re-join practice at home. It just tends to be far more common.

There are a lot of ifs built into this. If everything goes according to plan, Fiala is tentatively targeted to rejoin the Kings around Nov. 1.

“Well, first off, there’s a bit of an unknown,” admitted Holland. “If everything goes good, if everything goes spot on and there’s no issues, we’re hoping he’s in the lineup before the first of November. But let’s hope everything goes well.”

Understanding LTIR

Fiala’s contract carries a $7.88M AAV. Why not put him on LTIR to start the season? Wouldn’t that free up money for Holland to go out and sign or trade for a replacement until Fiala is ready?

It’s a bit more complex than a simple yes or no.

As PuckPedia put it in a recent article, “LTIR is one of the most cited, impactful, and yet misunderstood acronyms in the NHL’s salary cap era.”

For starters, a player eligible for LTIR must miss at least 10 NHL games AND 24 days of the NHL regular season.

Again, looking at the Kings schedule, that shouldn’t be a problem. Their 10th game is scheduled for Mon. Oct. 26 vs. the Rangers. And that’s more than 24 days into the season.

Actual math when looking at LTIR to help a team’s cap situation is more complex. From the same article:

— LTIR for players who are returning at some point: The maximum amount that a team can exceed the cap by for an injured player is limited to the league average salary from the previous year ($3,973,228 for 26-27, up from $3,817,293 for 2025-26); this is the “LTIR Benefit Limit.”

— If a team is under the cap prior to placing the player on LTIR, then the LTIR pool is the injured player’s cap hit (to the LTIR Benefit Limit of $3,973,228) minus the team cap space available at the time. For example, if a player with a $4 million cap hit goes on LTIR, and their team has $100,000 of cap space, the team’s LTIR pool would be $3.873 million ($3,973,228-$100,000).

What’s the takeaway for Holland and LA? Well, (A) placing Fiala on LTIR wouldn’t give them the full benefit of his $7.88M contract. It would be capped at the $3.973M limit. (B) When you also factor in that LA is sitting with about $1.8M in free cap space at the moment, that gets reduced from the equation first; thereby melting down the max benefit of $3.973M to about $2.1M. Meaning, the Kings wouldn’t get to add their $1.8M in space to the $3.973M in LTIR ‘savings’ for a number closer to $5.77M.

Next, we get to the actual consequences of LTIR:

While using LTIR allows a team to exceed the cap, there are some negative consequences of being an LTIR team:

LTIR teams do not accrue cap space during the year. If a team has $1 million of space available in their LTIR pool on Day 10 of the season, assuming no other roster moves, they will still have only $1 million of space available at the trade deadline. For non-LTIR teams, $1 million of projected cap space on Day 10 of the season would allow them to add a player with a $4.5 million cap hit at the trade deadline.

By definition, a team using LTIR all season would finish the year with a final cap hit greater than the salary cap. Consequently, any performance bonuses earned by players on that team during the season are carried over and added to that team’s cap hit for the following season. A total of 8 teams have performance bonus overages from 2025-2026 on their 2026-2027 cap.

The performance bonus thing could be an issue for the Kings, as Mats Zuccarello’s contract comes with a $5M bonus after 10 games played. That money gets added to a team’s cap at the end of the year. As noted above, LA currently only has about $1.8M in free cap space. Thus, if they make no other moves all year, Zuccarello’s bonus money will put them over the cap in June — and that overage will need to come off the top of next year’s cap money for the Kings.

Perhaps more important in the foreseeable future is that when a team is using LTIR money, they aren’t banking cap space for later in the season.

This is a key point. Perhaps even the most important. Per Puck Pedia, the Kings are currently projected to have $8.31M in free cap space at the Trade Deadline. With each day they stay under the salary cap limit, their savings builds. It’s another major factor in only carrying 22 players. Teams don’t have to carry 23; so when you don’t, cap savings can be banked.

Finally, does any of this suggest Fiala won’t be put on LTIR at some point? No. If the Kings needed to, they could retroactively place him on LTIR. However, the goal would be to not do it for a multitude of reasons.

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MORE LA KINGS NEWS:

SOURCES: Kings Make Final Roster Decisions, Comes with a Slight Swerve

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It’s finally here.

After all the waiting and a summer of changes, Kings hockey is officially back as the organization kicks off their 60th season — in Colorado for a quasi-rematch months in the making.

Not only is tonight an opportunity for the group to get some revenge on an Avalanche team that handed them a disappointing playoff exit last spring, it’s also a chance to start fresh. With a new captain, a new coaching staff, and several new pieces in the lineup, LA will attempt to use these first five games to make some sort of an impact; a new beginning of sorts.

One of the biggest stories coming into Opening Night is who will be playing alongside Brandt Clarke. With Joel Edmundson potentially sitting out due to injury, Erik Gustafsson could step in alongside the Kings young phenom. The latter has played under new head coach Peter Laviolette before, providing puck movement and speed — two things LA’s bench boss is requiring from all his rearguards this season.

The expectation is an up-tempo pace of play with added creativity in the offensive zone without forfeiting any success on the defensive side of the puck. That style will translate to special teams, as well, where the Kings should feature movement on the power play that has not been present in Los Angeles for quite some time.

Up front, Corey Perry missed most of training camp while attending to a personal matter. Although he returned for the team’s practice on Tuesday, there is still a question of whether he’ll play tonight or Laviolette will prefer to go with Andre Lee — who was impressive during preseason, suiting up in all four games.

Then there’s the goaltending. For a second consecutive season, Los Angeles has a tandem of Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg. That starter spot is up for grabs. With Kuemper coming off a down year, and Forsberg not playing a whole lot over the course of an 84-game season, both will have to win the trust of Laviolette in the early going.

Altogether, it’s a season filled with a whole new set of challenges. How will this team look coming off a shortened camp? There’s only one way to find out. It’s time to drop the puck.

Must Read Article of the Day

In our new series for the 2026-27 season, we’re breaking down different elements of Laviolette’s system and general approach to hockey. For a sneak preview of what the power play is set to bring, read this before tonight’s game:

X’s and O’s: An Early Look at the Kings All-New Power Play

Quoting and Noting

Today’s question is about facing Colorado. Does the room have a bit of a chip on its shoulder, or is it more about starting with a clean slate: new coach, new system, new season?

Brian Dumoulin: A little bit of both. Obviously I remember that series pretty well. They have a lot of the same players too, so we should feel confident in knowing their game plan. I feel like maybe we know theirs better than they know ours, obviously with a new coach. But at the end, it can all be about game plan, but it’s just winning puck battles and handling momentum, handling your own emotions. Both teams are gonna be ready to go. So it’s gonna be a fun game to play in, and just being able to stay poised and confident and handle the swings of the game.

Scott Laughton: I think you always do. I think you get swept by a team and it’s still pretty fresh in your mind. I think you want to get off to a good start, go play a simple road game against a really good hockey team — and I believe we’re a really good hockey team too, so it’s going to be fun to kind of get in the action right away and get going here.

Statistically Speaking

— Wednesday’s game marks just the third regular-season contest played during the month of September in Kings franchise history, following back-to-back games against the Anaheim Ducks in the NHL Premiere Series on Sept. 29 & 30, 2007, in London, England.

— Captain Drew Doughty begins the 2026-27 campaign just 17 games away from tying Dustin Brown (1,296 GP) for the second-most games played in franchise history.

— Newly signed forwards Mats Zuccarello and Erik Haula are set to make their Kings debut in Denver on Wednesday. Zuccarello, who signed a one-year contract on July 1, is set to become the first Norwegian-born player to play for the Kings.

Kings Projected Lineup

Below is a projected alignment. If there are any key changes during pregame warmups, this article will be updated.

Panarin – Byfield – Kempe
Zuccarello – Turcotte – Laferriere
Moore – Haula – Laughton
Lee – Helenius – Armia

Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Doughty
Anderson – Ceci

Kuemper
Forsberg

Likely scratches: (F) Perry (D) Gustafsson

Injured Reserve: Fiala

Across the Ice

Colorado are coming off a 55-16-11 record last season but were swept by Vegas in the Western Conference Finals. Here’s how they are projected to line up tonight:

Lehkonen – MacKinnon – Necas
Landeskog – Nelson – Kadri
Schwartz – Svechkov – Hughes
Kelly – Roy – T. Makar

Toews – Makar
Kulak – Malinski
Manson – Burns

Blackwood

How to Watch the Game

Puck drop is set for 7:00 pm Pacific Time and the game can be viewed nationally on TNT.

Further details on LA’s broadcast and streaming plans for 2026-27 can be found here:

UPDATED: Kings Regular Season Streaming Options, Plus Preseason TV Plans

On This Day in Kings History

On September 30, 2008, the @LAKings acquired Sean O’Donnell from the Anaheim Ducks for a conditional draft pick. In his second stint with the #LAKings, O’Donnell recorded 27 points, 165 hits, and 183 blocked shots in 160 games.#GoKingsGo pic.twitter.com/G44uY9gFOs

— The Kingstorian (@Kingstorian) September 30, 2026

MORE LA KINGS NEWS:

(Nearly) Every Word Said by Doughty, Holland, and Laviolette about the Kings New Captain

Byfield – Laviolette Has Talked a lot About Family and Attitude, Made Systems Clearer

Clarke Ready for More Responsibility, Praises New Coaching Staff and Changes

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Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com

Summer is over, so it’s time for an all-new Kings Of The Podcast. In this episode, co-hosts John Hoven and Dennis Bernstein touch on all things LA hockey related and answer more than a dozen fan submitted questions.

Topics covered include:

— Trade Rumors
— Which prospects are NHL ready
— Who gets called up first and why
— Kempe at center or wing
— Byfield’s production this year
— Clarke’s expanding role
— Turcotte as a 2C
— Impact of Laviolette and coaching
— Doughty as captain
— Connors, Lee, and Wright
— Kirsanov vs. Booth
— How many games Gustafsson will play
— Forsberg vs. Kuemper, who is No. 1
— Much, much more

Listen to this KOTP episode for free using the audio player below or find a full catalog of past shows on all the major podcast platforms, including: Spotify, iHeart Radio, Apple Podcast, Tune In, etc.

Graphic created by ALoImages

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It’s not only time for the Kings to begin their 2026-27 season, but we’re also now less than three days away from the Ontario Reign kicking off their AHL campaign.

Coach Andrew Lord is back behind the bench after guiding Ontario to a franchise-best 99 points and a Pacific Division title. He’ll have a new assistant coach joining him, as well:

Ontario Reign Closing in on New Assistant Coach to Replace Hajt

When it comes to the roster, Lord and Reign GM Nelson Emerson have been doing some housekeeping this week. A number of guys on minor-league-only contracts have been reassigned to ECHL Greenville, including: Brendan Gorman, Neal Shea, Jacob Murray, Cameron Supryka, and Mattias Sholl.

What remains is a group of 26 players, primarily a mix of Kings prospects and a handful of AHL veterans. Joe Hicketts returns as team captain. Scott Perunovich — signed by the Kings as a depth option — will help anchor a rather young group of blueliners. Henry Brzustewicz and Jared Woolley will steal all the headlines in that department, a pair of promising rookies coming in from the OHL with championship experience.

Meanwhile, Angus Booth and Kirill Kirsanov are both knocking on the door of NHL call-ups; yet they’ll begin the season with Ontario.

Up front, look for Kenny Connors and Jared Wright to get significant minutes and see action in all situations. Both have already had a cup of coffee with LA and they’re expected back up with the big club at some point. It’s also a make-or-break year for several older prospects, like Franky Pinelli and Martin Chromiak.

Reign Projected Lineup

Based upon what was used in their two preseason games, here’s a quick look at how players may be aligned come Friday:

Jamsen – Pederson – Chromiak
Pinelli – Connors – Wright
Ward – Guttman – Ziemmer
Cihar – G. Slukynsky – Doty
Isogai – Lawrence – Hughes

Booth – Brzustewicz
Woolley – Millar
Hicketts – Mastrodomenico
Kirsanov – Perunovich

H. Slukynksy
George
Portillo

Injured: (F) Jenik (D) Dvorak, Salin

Other Roster Notes

— We’ll start with Vojtech Cihar. He was a point-per-game player in the WHL for 31 regular-season games and then upped his output slightly in the postseason. After scoring six goals in nine playoff games for Kelowna (and adding another seven assists), many are excited by what the future may hold for LA’s second rounder from 2025. Cihar sat fifth in our most recent edition of the LA Kings Prospect Rankings.

At the moment, there are more questions than answers. Well, that’s not entirely true. It’s really just one question: Where will he play this season? As a player drafted out of Europe, he has the most options available to him. He could essentially play in four places — NHL, AHL, CHL, or Europe. After starting last season in the Czech league, he migrated to the WHL following a run with his national team at the World Juniors. He really wants to be in the AHL right now. The question is, does he have the size and maturity for such a significant jump? Many scouts we’ve spoken with suggest another run in the WHL would be to his benefit. It all appears to be up in the air at the moment, as where he starts may not be where he finishes. He’s also expected to join Czechia once again for the WJC in December. Either way, we’ll be keeping a close eye on his situation as it continues to develop.

— Jan Jenik has not officially been assigned to the Reign; however, that’s simply a paperwork thing. He’s currently injured. Once recovered enough to practice with the team, he’ll join the club. Meanwhile, defensemen Jakub Dvorak and Otto Salin were both injured during training camp and their return dates have not been established quite yet.

— Kaleb Lawrence was jettisoned to Rochester last season after failing to secure an everyday role with the Reign. He’s been a full participant since rookie camp began in early September, including playing games at the Rookie Faceoff tournament in September. How long will his leash be once regular-season games get underway? At 6-foot-6, the size is there, and he has the ability to chip in with depth offense. He’ll need to play a clearly defined role to stay in the AHL. If not, he may be an early candidate for a ticket back to the ECHL.

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Lead photo by Megan Sanders

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College hockey has never been hotter than it is right now. This wave of interest was already on the rise prior to recent rule changes, with more and more hockey players opting to go the college route than ever before. However, it’s not just proving to be a great option for American-born players — now CHL players can make the migration after playing junior hockey, making it a great developmental option for prospects who are too good for the CHL, but maybe not quite ready for the AHL yet.

Just look at some of the numbers from last June’s NHL Draft:

Per College Hockey Inc. stats, there have been “record-setting numbers in recent drafts and a clear upward trend in NCAA representation.”

For example, at the 2026 NHL Draft, 110 current or committed NCAA Division I players were selected — the highest since the league’s current seven‑round format began in 2005, and the most since 1989 (in the then-12-round Draft).

In Round 1 alone, 19 of the 32 players taken had an NCAA affiliation. At the time, Round 2 featured 16 players, but that number has grown even more — as guys like Kings prospect Liam Lefebvre later committed to Boston University for the 2027-28 season.

Some exciting Kings prospect news — One of the team’s top 10 prospects (and three most impressive forwards at Dev Camp last month) has committed to Boston University.

Liam Lefebvre, a 2026 second round pick (acquired in the Danault trade to Montreal), will join one of the best… https://t.co/fr7efpolRj

— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) August 24, 2026

Let’s get back to this year, though.

With collegiate programs across the country preparing to open their 2026-27 seasons this weekend, it’s time for the first College Hockey Poll of the new year — featuring six Kings prospects at three different universities ranked in the Top 10.

They’ll also have another pair of players at universities ranked between 11 and 20, and two more at unranked schools (Jack Sparkes, Clarkson and Will Sharpe, St. Cloud State).

No. 1 – Denver University

The reigning NCAA title holders come in riding high and feature a trio of Kings prospects who helped them secure their 2026 National Championship back in April.

Having already put Jared Wright in the pro game, highly regarded coach David Carle is currently responsible for helping mentor forwards Kristian Epperson, Brendan McMorrow, and James Reeder (note: he prefers to be called Jay). This is part of what we had to say about each player during our most recent round of Prospect Ranking articles:

Buy stock early on McMorrow, and lots of it. His most simple description is that he’s a hockey player. In the same vein as guys like Mikey Anderson, Alex Laferriere, Kenny Connors, et al., this former USHL standout is a high-effort player who brings it every single game. Has a Mike Richards-Blake Lizotte motor, is great on the forecheck, solid in transition, and can pull off some unbelievable scoring plays (check out his spin-o-rama goal from December). With Team USA at the World Juniors, he earned Player of the Game honors in their opening contest of the tournament. He’s one of the true players to watch at Dev Camp.

Epperson – After quietly putting together a nice freshman year during Denver’s regular season, LA’s 2025 draftee may have just been saving his best work for the playoffs. He notched the game-winner in the 2026 NCHC Frozen Faceoff Championship and assisted on the game-winning goal in this year’s NCAA championship game — in overtime, no less. Expect plenty of eyes to be on the Wisconsin native from this point forward.

On a stacked national championship-winning roster, Reeder was one of the most trusted players on the team. He averaged the most ice time of any forward during the regular season, had the highest shooting percentage, and improved on his freshman campaign with 12 more points. He’s far outplayed his seventh-round draft status thus far.

No. 7 – Quinnipiac

This is a new school entering the conversation among Kings prospects. There hasn’t been a single Kings prospect at the school since they moved to D-1 action in 1998. That all changes with the arrival of 20-year-old right wing Alex Kostov this season. He was selected by LA in the sixth round at this past June’s NHL Draft. Kostov arrives after four years in the OHL, including a breakout campaign last season, where he put up 55 points in 47 games for the Flint Firebirds — including 24 goals. A full scouting report on him can be found here:

LA Kings Select Alex Kostov No. 177 – What You Need to Know

From a program perspective, here’s an interesting note on Quinnipiac: In what may have been the upset of the year, they were knocked out of the ECAC tournament quarterfinals in March by Sparkes and Clarkson. As a top-10 ranked program at the time, they still qualified for the field of 16 playoff teams in the main NCAA field. After winning their opening-round game, they were then eliminated by North Dakota, who advanced to the Frozen Four.

No. 7 – Providence

While the Ducks plucked their 2026 first-rounder, Roger McQueen, out of Providence, here’s another school entering the Kings prospect conversation for the first time. And they’re doing it with not one player, but two this year — both forwards, and both drafted this past June.

“It’s really funny, it’s like a serendipitous thing,” said Mark Yannetti, LA’s longtime Director of Amateur Scouting. “We ended up with two guys in London. We ended up with three guys in Denver. Way back when, we ended up with three or four guys in St. Cloud. There is no method to it or plan to it. It really just happens. Now that being said, it really doesn’t just happen — because successful programs run by successful people attract successful players.

“While we don’t actively look to take a kid who’s going to Denver or who is playing in London or is going to Providence, we certainly like when players are going to teams like that. You have coaches like Carle, people like the Hunters, you have Lehman. Those guys are proven winners and proven developers. And the programs and those situations can’t be ignored. While we don’t look for it, we certainly like that. And it’s not surprising to me that those are the type of schools that have a lot of guys picked from.”

More on the LA hopefuls who will be at Providence this year can be found in these Draft day articles:

LA Kings Select Blake Zielinski No. 80 – What You Need to Know

LA Kings Select Thomas Vandenberg No. 103 – What You Need to Know

Both players are likely to see plenty of chatter among the organization’s prospect pool in the months ahead. In the days leading up to the Draft, there was plenty of discussion among Kings scouts about Zielinski and Vandenberg. They were two guys heavily targeted on their list, and they were more than happy to leave Draft weekend with both players.

More specifically, when it comes to Zielinski, his willingness to go to the dirty areas only adds to his overall compete level.

“Absolutely; that’s the biggest thing about him,” noted Yannetti. “Some of those intangibles, on ice and off ice. He’s a high, high character kid. He’s a worker. He’s a worker on the ice, and he’s a worker in terms of taking charge of his own development, trying to become the best at what he can be. Those two things kind of bleed over — off the ice and on the ice. Also, he’s over a point-a-game player in the USHL. That certainly isn’t a bad thing.

“He’s one of those guys that has that work ethic and the intangibles you sometimes find with a lower-lineup-level player — a guy playing lower in the lineup — and he’s also running numbers, playing on the first line in the USHL. So that combination of work and intangibles to go along with skill — and sense as a secondary — certainly separated him and made him valuable to us.”

No. 12 – Boston College

After what was a down year for Boston and Boston College last season, both schools come in ranked inside the top 16 and eager to enter the national conversation once again. Kings prospect Ryan Conmy is back with the Eagles for his senior year. It will be an important campaign for the 21-year-old winger, as he gives one final push toward earning an NHL entry-level contract.

No. 17 – Penn State

Perhaps nobody on this list brings more question marks than defenseman Caeden Herrington. It has nothing to do with what the 6-foot-2, 204 pound rearguard has done thus far — it’s what lies ahead. After piling up 34 points (16G, 18A) in 56 regular-season games in the USHL two years ago, he played his freshman season at the University of Vermont last year. A native of the state, it was where he had always dreamed of going. Now, with a potential pro career a real possibility, Herrington has transferred to Penn State, which should provide a big step up in competition and expectations. How will he handle the jump? We’re about to find out.

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Lead photo of Zielinski by Clarus Multimedia Group

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Just over a week ago we debuted our new series X’s and O’s, focused on breaking down the tactics that the Kings will use this season. While initial plans had us waiting for the season to start, where we could gather a library of additional film to break down, there’s no time like the present. After Saturday’s preseason game against Anaheim, it was clear we needed to talk about the power play. 

LA had four man advantages and converted on two of them. However, they didn’t just have two chances to score — there were multiple scoring attempts showcasing perfect setups, even if they didn’t find their way to the back of the net.

From breakouts to zone entries to outstanding puck movement in the offensive zone, the Kings looked more ready to attack on the power play than they have since the 2022-23 season — when they boasted the fourth-best power play in the league. Let’s take a look.

(Puck) Movement is Medicine

LA’s power play was practically on life support the past two seasons, ranking 27th in 2024-25 and 28th in 2025-26. It’s very early, but Peter Laviolette and Ray Whitney appear to have found a cure for some of the team’s woes in this area.

The Kings are primarily running a 1-3-1 power play structure: one man at the point, three men in the middle, and one man net-front or down low. That’s the same formation the Kings ran under Jim Hiller’s tenure as head coach, yet the execution couldn’t have been more different on Saturday. 

In that formation, there are two fundamental ways a team can attempt to manipulate the opposition’s penalty killers. First, change levels. Second, change sides. The objective is to move defenders, or at least their attention, away from where you ultimately want to attack. It’s a type of sleight of hand where a player creates movement and uncertainty until they’ve opened up time and space for a shooter.

Watching the game against Anaheim, Laviolette’s guys were showing off passes that were fast, crisp, and purposeful, utilizing puck movement up, down, and across the ice. Nowhere was it clearer than on Mats Zuccarello’s goal.

Notice how after Quinton Byfield makes a tremendous save to hold the puck in at the blue line, he sends the puck down low. Artemi Panarin receives the pass, taps the puck to Adrian Kempe who then passes it right back. This movement distracts the defenders, leaving Zuccarello wide open backdoor. Panarin makes the easy cross-slot pass and it’s in the back of the net before the Ducks know it.

That’s the whole principle behind a 1-3-1 attack — and it’s a perfect execution of it. Change levels, change sides, and do it fast enough that the penalty killers shade in a direction that leaves a man open. An individual pass may be harmless, yet four in quick succession creates a high-danger scoring chance.

Breakout Role

Now to examine how the Kings exit their zone. Against Anaheim they ran a double-drop breakout, which means the defenseman — in this case Brandt Clarke — carries the puck up the ice with two forwards trailing. In this example, Clarke drops the puck to Kempe, who in turn drops the puck to Panarin. Once the drops occur, the Kings drive the zone to get a clean entry without dumping the puck in.

The goal of this is to build speed to catch the penalty killers on their heels and enter the zone with possession. Keep an eye on this type of sequence once the season begins, as it will be a major key to generating scoring chances on the man advantage.

Last season, it was Byfield who led the team in controlled zone exits and controlled zone entries. This season, you can expect it to be Panarin.

Take a Lap

Panarin will undoubtedly be the driver of this year’s power play. His puck possession, creativity, and passing are unparalleled on the roster, and as a result he has the freedom to direct the power play in the moment as he chooses.

That freedom is by design, and Laviolette said as much on the second day of training camp.

“I don’t want to do anything that constrains him from reaching that [elite] level,” noted LA’s bench boss.

What does that look like in practice? On the All The Kings Men Podcast, Ray Whitney described the approach simply: “There’s going to be creativity and movement with a base concept in place.”

The base concept is the 1-3-1, and the creativity and movement are what Panarin brings to it.

Picking up from the last clip, Panarin enters the zone with speed but immediately faces pressure. He draws the penalty killers down the half wall and reverses the puck to Zuccarello to establish possession. Then he takes a lap around the offensive zone.

Rotating around the formation like that moves more than Panarin. His teammates rotate with him.

When he moves up the far wall, he receives a pass and heads toward the point. Clarke then drops down and ends up taking the wing. Because Clarke takes the wing, Byfield moves into the bumper spot. It’s dynamic, fluid positionless hockey.

Once Panarin reaches the point, he passes to Zuccarello who draws the defense’s attention, and quick-fires a pass back to Panarin for a shot.

While he would end up whiffing on the one-timer that Zuccarello sets up, Panarin’s shift in position is what created the space for him to get a look at the net in the first place.

Swing and a Miss

Now that we’ve seen one quality chance go unfinished, we’d be remiss not to highlight another. This pass from Panarin was so good that it caught Byfield completely off guard. 

Because of the 5-on-3, Byfield is able to cheat down low. He has his stick inside the blue paint and he’s ready for an easy tap-in goal. However, Panarin’s deception makes it look like he’s firing on net, not passing, which causes Byfield to lift his stick and be just a moment too late to receive the pass and cleanly bury the puck.

Despite the misses, the Kings still converted on two of their four man advantages.

Yes, it’s only preseason. No, they won’t be batting .500 during the regular season. But the success rate isn’t really what stood out on Saturday. It was the entries, the movement, and just how effortless it all looked.

While one good night in September doesn’t mean much, a structure that can keep producing these looks in late April will.

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Enjoy a free replay of this weekend’s Hot Stove on NHL Network Radio, where John Hoven joined hosts Dennis Bernstein, Dave Pagnotta, and Ryan Paton for their first show of the 2026-27 hockey season. With regular-season games just days away, they covered a plethora of LA Kings-related topics, including — which team is likely to win the Pacific Division, Drew Doughty’s potential contract extension, Brandt Clarke’s potential usage under Phil Housley, which player is the X-factor in LA’s upcoming season, how much of an impact new coach Peter Laviolette may have in Year 1, how GM Ken Holland might solve the logjam of goalies, what a top line of Panarin-Byfield-Kempe should mean for the team’s depth, and much more.

This radio segment can be heard using the player below or download any of our audio files for free on the Mayor’s Manor Apple podcast page located here.

Ontario Reign hockey is back! (kinda)

Much like their NHL brethren, the Reign are wrapping up preseason action this weekend. Following Ontario’s 4-3 overtime win on Friday vs. San Diego, they’re travelling to Coachella Valley today for an early evening affair at Acrisure Arena.

Even though tonight is an exhibition and the results won’t count in the standings, there is still very likely to be a little extra juice on this one compared to most preseason contests.

Plenty of players on each bench will remember exactly what happened the last time they got together.

It was the Firebirds eliminating the Reign in double overtime of a winner-take-all playoff game last spring. Coming off a regular season where Ontario won the Pacific Division title with a franchise-best campaign, coach Andrew Lord and his squad certainly didn’t expect to be bounced in the Calder Cup Playoffs semifinal round. All involved were counting on the club going on a much deeper run. That didn’t happen and today will mark the first time both sides will be seeing each other since that heartbreaker last May.

In a storyline that few saw coming, Erik Portillo is expected to start today’s game for the Reign.

Portillo: Where Does he Fit in to the LA Kings Plans This Season?

That in and of itself is some pretty significant news for a number of reasons. First, Kings GM Ken Holland has spent most of the summer flirting with the idea of LA beginning the season with three goalies. As we reported earlier today, Portillo was sent down to the AHL this morning, after not seeing any preseason action with the big club.

After playing tonight, he could still conceivably be recalled to the NHL. Thus, this very much could be a one-and-done scenario.

Conventional thinking would have the Reign starting goalies — Hampton Slukynsky and Carter George — get some final tune-up time today. But with five pro goalies in the organization and only four spots total between the NHL and AHL, there is a shortage of games for each goalie to play in.

Also of note is that the Reign are set to open their 2026-27 regular season with back-to-back games next Friday and Saturday, in what will be a home-and-home series with the Firebirds — which should definitely be a heated set.  

Looking at the rest of the Reign roster, several training camp cuts have been made this week, with a handful of guys sent to the ECHL. While these moves were pretty much planned out all summer, there are still a few roster decisions to be made, especially at forward, where Lord has more than a few options at his disposal right now.

Reign Projected Lineup

While we don’t have the exact lines and pairings heading into tonight’s game quite yet, we project it will look something like this.

Jamsen – Pederson – Chromiak
Pinelli – Connors – Wright
Ward – Guttman – Ziemmer
Cihar – G. Slukynsky – Doty

Booth – Brzustewicz
Woolley – Millar
Hicketts – Mastrodomenico

Portillo
George

Likely scratches: (F) Gorman, Hughes, Isogai, Lawrence, Percival, Shea (D) Kirsanov, Perunovich and (G) H. Slukynksy

Injured: (F) Jenik (D) Dvorak, Salin

Key Game Info

Puck drop is set for 5:00 p.m. Pacific Time. There will be not be a stream or radio coverage of the game tonight. However, all regular season games will be streamed via FloSports and a Reign radio feed is typically available here.

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With preseason games now complete, all eyes turn to what moves GM Ken Holland will make to get his roster down to the league maximum of 23 before Monday’s deadline. And in typical LA style, there appears to be a slight swerve in what’s about to take place.

To help set the stage, Holland trimmed the Kings training camp roster by several players on Saturday — including sending Kenny Connors and Jared Wright to AHL Ontario. Although both players appear to be NHL ready, neither really had a secure spot on the NHL roster, so better to play with the Reign than sit in a press box as LA’s extra forwards.

Things looked pretty settled at that point. Then, came late word that Joel Edmundson was going to be out day-to-day, per coach Peter Laviolette. This resulted in defenseman Kirill Kirsanov being recalled from Ontario for Saturday’s matinee with the Ducks — in a bit of a yo-yo move, as he was just sent down on Friday.

“I think [Joel] is going to be fine,” Laviolette shared. “Kirsanov is a young player, he played well in camp. I think he’s gotten better with every opportunity to play; a good showing. He elevated a little bit from last game, so he kind of worked his way up [the depth chart] to get a game in on the recall when we needed a defenseman.”

Well, according to several sources, Kirsanov is now headed back to AHL Ontario. That’s not the unexpected move. Despite Ken Holland having toyed with the idea of carrying a trio of goaltenders to start the season — as opposed to the traditional method of carrying a duo — we hear they’re sending goaltender Erik Portillo to the Reign, as well. This means the Kings will officially have 22 active players on the roster, not 23.

Other Roster Notes

– Kevin Fiala’s status will have him on injured reserve to begin the season. However, his contract money still counts toward the salary cap. There’s no real reason to move him to long-term injured reserve either, as the Kings have cap room to recall an extra forward or defenseman, should that be needed.

– Even with Kirsanov going back to the AHL, it’s not a sure thing Edmundson will be ready to go by Opening Night in Colorado on Wednesday. This could just be paperwork-related. Although every NHL team has to file a cap-compliant roster with the league office by Monday afternoon, teams are allowed to recall players, if needed. Meaning, it will be interesting to see what develops on Tuesday before the Kings depart SoCal for Denver. Even if Edmundson isn’t ready to go, they technically wouldn’t have to recall anybody, as Erik Gustafsson could be an option to slide in and play. That wasn’t possible yesterday because he had already suited up for the maximum of two preseason games (with over 500 NHL GP, he was bound by the veteran player rule). Either way, it’s something to keep an eye on over the next few days.

– As for Portillo, he’s been in a weird spot all camp. He doesn’t really have a spot with the Kings or the Reign. Both clubs have two goalies who are expected to get the bulk of the starts. Making matters more complicated, he didn’t play in a preseason game either. Now, his last chance to get any sort of game action before the season starts will come tonight in Coachella, when Ontario plays their final exhibition contest in advance of next weekend’s AHL season opener.

Could Portillo then possibly be recalled on Tuesday, putting LA back at 23 players? Oh, the drama.

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MORE LA KINGS NEWS:

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Note to webmasters/reporters: When recapping news or interviews from this site please remember to include a link to www.MayorsManor.com