Kings get ready for Rookie Faceoff in Nevada

While the Kings’ summer was far from uneventful, fans haven’t had the chance to see the black and silver on the ice for nearly two months.

That’ll change today, when some of the youngest Kings will skate at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo ahead of the Rookie Faceoff event that’ll take place Friday through Monday in the Las Vegas area.

The Kings will bookend the trip with games in both Henderson and Summerlin, Nev., with morning practices today and Tuesday in El Segundo, beginning around 10 a.m and 9:45 a.m., respectively.

While marquee acquisitions such as center Pierreluc Dubois and goalie Cam Talbot won’t be striding along the ice in Nevada, their impact and that of other recent veteran acquisitions such as winger Kevin Fiala will certainly be felt, albeit indirectly. The Kings, once touted as having the deepest prospect pool in the NHL by many analysts, have accelerated their build by committing resources to the parent club.

Not only have they turned over all but two players from their two Stanley Cup-winning rosters (2012, 2014), but recently they’ve been trading picks and prospects alike to snag players such as Dubois, Fiala and defenseman Vladislav Gavrikov, a trio who cost them their last two firstround picks as well as multiple prospects and younger roster players.

That doesn’t mean the group competing in exhibitions against the San Jose Sharks (1 p.m. Friday in Summerlin), the Arizona Coyotes (3:30 p.m. Saturday, Summerlin) and Monday with the Ducks (12:30 p.m. Monday, Henderson).

In total, the Kings will travel with 27 players, including their top two selections in this year’s draft, defenseman Jakub Dvorak and winger Koehn Ziemmer, as well as goalie Erik Portillo, whose rights the Kings acquired in a trade with the Buffalo Sabres on March 1.

Among the more familiar faces will be Francesco Pinelli, a forward fresh off a 90-point junior campaign, and Ontario Reign (American Hockey League) regulars such as winger Martin Chromiak and center Samuel Helenius. Chromiak, who finished seventh on the Ontario Reign in scoring last season, will be its most productive player attending the tournament.

The Kings have made the playoffs in each of the past two campaigns after a three-season absence, and now seek to ascend to the level of serious contention. A version of the roster that will most closely resemble the one that will be in pursuit of the Stanley Cup this season will debut Sept. 23, when the Kings and Arizona Coyotes will clash in Melbourne, Australia, for the first NHL games in the Southern Hemisphere.

Locally, the Kings’ local broadcast situation for the upcoming season largely remains a mystery, but ticketing and streaming information for the Rookie Faceoff tournament can be found on the Vegas Golden Knights website. The games from Down Under will be broadcast on NHL Network, where a documentary series about the trip will also begin airing Oct. 2.