The Riverside Press-Enterprise
Kings set to tune roster as season nears
Defensive questions a focus in final two weeks of preseason
UP NEXT
Approaching the midway point of training camp, the Kings have fewer decisions than in recent years but will still have to make some critical calls ahead of their Oct. 11 season opener.
Coach Todd Mclellan and GM Rob Blake will sort through situations in each of these four areas, and in short order.
ON THE BLUE LINE >> Drew Doughty played his first game action since March 7 on Wednesday. He has looked none the worse for wear coming off wrist surgery. Sean Durzi has progressed in his return from shoulder surgery, and Wednesday he shed the non-contact jersey at practice. Sean Walker, who underwent major knee surgery, and Alex Edler, who at 36 missed significant time last year with a broken ankle, might need a bit more management though, early on and perhaps throughout the season.
Tobias Bjornfot and Jordan Spence could be sent down to the minors without having to clear waivers, though both have NHL experience and every opportunity to make the club. Mikey Anderson and Matt Roy are roster locks, while Jacob Moverare would need to clear waivers if he were demoted.
Brandt Clarke continues to be the most intriguing figure, with speculation swirling that he could make the team out of camp, whether it be for a stay of nine games or fewer (similar to Alex Turcotte last season and Quinton Byfield the in 2021) or for the duration of the campaign.
Clarke said when Doughty pointed to him in the waning moments of Wednesday’s exhibition, he thought he was being called off the ice for a line change rather than to stay on with Doughty to form a potent pairing that Mclellan said was “common sense” to assemble while trailing by a goal late.
Doughty, however, expressed no confusion in evaluating Clarke’s game.
“He sees the ice very well, he makes very good plays, I can’t say enough about his offensive ability. He can learn a little bit on the other side of the puck, but who couldn’t when you come in as an offensive defenseman?” Doughty said.
“I went through the same stuff, I had to learn how to play defense and we’ve got a lot of good guys on our team who can help teach him. I don’t want to say he’s Nhl-ready, but he’s basically Nhl-ready.”
IN THE NET >> Over the past two seasons, Jonathan Quick has made 68 starts and Cal Petersen has made 67, the most evenly split duty in the NHL. Petersen garnered the lion’s share of starts during a largely abysmal pandemic-shortened 2021 campaign, but Quick reclaimed the reins last season and started all seven playoff contests.
Mclellan said that he had no fixed plan of how to distribute starts between his goalies at this time. Both netminders remained comfortable with that arrangement.
“Nothing changes. We’re both competing every second of every day, but, again, still maintaining a great friendship, a great goalie partnership,” Petersen said early in camp. “I like these scrimmages when we’re facing off against each other. It adds another element. But, again, my whole focus isn’t on him, it’s on just getting myself ready for the season.”
Team captain Anze Kopitar has been through countless battles with Quick, but discussed Petersen’s value first when assessing the impact of undrafted free agents on the roster.
“I think Cal’s ability to either be a No. 1 or a 1B is very comforting for us to have him around and be alongside Quickie, who obviously is still the Jonathan Quick that we know,” Kopitar said.
UP FRONT >> The Kings’ top six will have two new members on opening night. On the top line, it will be marquee addition Kevin Fiala, whom the Kings acquired for prospect Brock Faber and a first-round pick before signing him to a lucrative contract extension.
“I think he allows another level of offensive play to enter into the picture. He completes the line a little bit more,” Mclellan said. “We have a starting point. I don’t know where it will go from here.”
Fiala flashed his skill with a highlight-reel goal in the Kings’ second preseason game, a win over Vegas. In their most recent exhibition against San Jose, they focused on a second-line tossup. Viktor Arvidsson likely won’t be ready to start the season following back surgery, so Samuel Fagemo and Gabriel Vilardi split shifts in his stead. Despite poor ice conditions, Vilardi looked more engaged and effective. He made some ambitious passes that created scoring opportunities and assisted on the Kings’ solitary goal. Mclellan said Vilardi had “all the skills and the tool kit” to fill the role, if he manages to earn it.
“He’s got a lot of experience now. He’s big, he’s strong, he’s healthy and he should have a ton of confidence. This type of environment
Online: sets up well for him,” Mclellan said. “In the back of his mind, he should be looking at that spot right now and targeting it.”
THE BIG PICTURE >> Persistence, grit and an abundance of one-goal games defined the Kings’ campaign last season. Mclellan remarked that few playoff teams qualified with anything close to a goal differential as low as the Kings’ plusthree last season.
Small but noticeable improvements all around — goals for, goals against and both areas of special teams — were what Mclellan wanted to see from his club as it sought to stave off stiffer competition in the Western Conference and advance deeper into the playoffs.
“Do we have to get the first round and win Game 7 and get to the second round? I don’t know if that’s success. I think that there are teams in the Western Conference that were playoff teams last year, they had playoff talent but it didn’t go right for them for whatever reason. We have to keep that in mind, and that we have a target on our backs,” Mclellan said.
“There’s teams that are very capable of making it, they’re not going to surprise anybody if they do. We, on the other hand, probably surprised teams last year. So the gap between making the playoffs and making it to the second or third round is really tight for us right now.”