Kings and Reign Rosters Almost Finished; Answering The Final Six Questions

Even though they started training camp with 67 players, the Kings and Reign roster forecasts have been pretty much set for months. However, like every season, there were still a few unanswered questions that would need to be settled. With less than 10 days remaining until Opening Night in Los Angeles, things are slowly starting to come into focus.

We’ve spent the past few days gathering some information, so let’s break it all down…

Sunday night the Kings and Ducks will play their first of three preseason games. LA’s only other opponent will be the Vegas Golden Knights in Salt Lake City for this year’s Frozen Fury.

Several of the Kings younger prospects have already been returned to their junior clubs, as the OHL season kicked off this weekend.

On Monday, the Kings will go through their most significant purge in camp, where they’ll begin the arduous task of assigning players to the AHL — thus marking the beginning of AHL Training Camp. Prospects who don’t require waivers will be a rather simple process. They’re assigned to Ontario and they’re immediately added to the roster. Other players will first have to pass through waivers and then (assuming they clear) will be assigned the following day.

Initial Roster Projections

When all is settled, the two teams will start with something pretty similar to:

LA Kings 2022-23 Projected Roster

Fiala – Kopitar – Kempe
Moore – Danault – TBD1
Iafallo – Byfield – Kaliyev
Lemieux – Lizotte – Grundstrom
TBD2 – TBD3

Anderson – Doughty
TBD4 – Roy
Edler – TBD4
TBD5

Quick
Petersen

* More on the TBD positions down below

Ontario Reign 2022-23 Projected Roster

TBD – Tynan – Fagemo
Madden – Kupari – Chromiak
Dudas – Thomas – Ward
Lee – Helenius – Doty
Quine – Kemp – Wagner
Turcotte (injured)

Nousiainen – Grans
TBD – TBD
Gaunce – Supryka
Bisson – Allard
Kasastul

Matthew Villalta
Pheonix Copley
David Hrenak
Jacob Ingham

NOTE: The last two goalies listed are expected to spend the majority of this season in the ECHL, with occasional call-ups to Ontario.

ROSTER QUESTIONS TO BE ANSWERED

Obviously, there are some key names missing from the above lineups, including: Viktor Arvidsson, Gabe Vilardi, Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Lias Andersson, Nate Thompson up front. On the backend, they’ll need to solve for Brandt Clarke, Sean Durzi, Tobias Bjornfot, Sean Walker, Jacob Moverare, and Jordan Spence.

Let’s tackle them one at a time…

QUESTION 1 – What is going on with Arvidsson?

Yes, he’s recently been practicing with the Kings, after beginning the month just skating on his own. Our sources indicate he is doing very well, perhaps even better than some expected. However, he’s still not expected to be ready for Opening Night. The current timetable has him targeted for around November 1 (the Kings have road games in St. Louis on October 31 and Dallas the day after). There is some interest in trying to get him into one preseason game, if possible. Should that happen, it would most likely come on October 8 vs. the Ducks at home. Either way, he’s expected to need several more weeks before getting the green light for regular season games.

QUESTION 2 – Which other two forwards will earn NHL roster spots?

Well, that’s sort of a two-part question. When Arvidsson is healthy and ready to go, there are only two roster spots left unclaimed (using the configuration above). That will come down to Vilardi, Anderson-Dolan, and Andersson. What makes the decision even harder is that all three players would need to be placed on waivers before assigning them to AHL Ontario. In the end, it is expected to boil down to the latter two. With Vilardi assumed to make the team, do they go with Anderson-Dolan or Andersson? It all hinges on things like preference, philosophy, need, etc. Both players come with one-year deals, so getting claimed by another team wouldn’t require a long-term commitment. JAD is the more high-character, culture, bottom-six forward who is versatile enough to play center or wing. On paper, Andersson is the more skilled winger who has shown flashes of brilliance in the AHL, yet hasn’t consistently put it together at the NHL level. With Arvidsson not expected to be ready for Game 1 on October 11, it’s a decision that can be kicked down the road a few weeks, with all three currently targeted for the Opening Night roster.

Here’s one funny thing to remember in all of this. Things change quickly. For example, coming out of training camp last year, Carl Gundstrom was most likely headed to waivers (for the purpose of sending him to the AHL). Look how things turned out. Quinton Byfield was injured, Grundstrom stayed in the NHL with an extra roster spot then open… and he went on the play a key role with the team, then was rewarded with a two-year contract extension this summer.

QUESTION 3 – What about Fagemo and Kupari?

Both players are still exempt from waivers. In the end, they’ll just have to bide their time in Ontario. If one of them came in and had a lights out training camp, could they have forced their way onto the Kings roster? It’s possible, just not very likely. Again, coach Todd McLellan only had 2-3 open spots at forward — before getting to Fagemo or Kupari — and four forwards to fill those spots who were all out of waivers. Could an incredible camp from Fagemo push the Kings to put JAD on waivers to make room for him? Again, it’s possible. However, look at the big picture. LA’s top three lines are all but set once Arvidsson comes back. So, why risk losing JAD to another team just for a few weeks of Fagemo in LA? At best, Fagemo and Kupari were fighting for the 13th and 14th roster spots in LA.

Clearly, if something happens with one of the other forwards over the next week or so, these are the two guys in the best position to capitalize on any newfound roster spots created – even temporary roster spots.

QUESTION 4 – Will Durzi or Walker be ready for Opening Night?

Sean Durzi is the easier one to answer. While nothing is set in stone, the expectation is that he’ll be ready to go for Game 1 vs. Vegas. Even though he was recently cleared for contact, Durzi will not play Sunday vs. the Ducks. We hear he’s targeted to make his preseason debut later this week. Assuming he’s available on Opening Night, he takes up one of the three TBD spots listed above.

Sean Walker is a riddle a little bit more difficult to solve. The most likely scenario could have him starting the season in Ontario on a conditioning assignment. After all, he is coming off a pretty serious surgery and easing back into game action wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. However, fitting this piece into the puzzle also potentially impacts Bjornfot, Spence, Moverare, and/or Edler. There is also the Brandt Clarke factor, but we’ll get to that in a minute. When it comes to Edler, he will be one of the final seven defensemen on the roster. Ideally, they’d probably like to limit his games played to about 45-60. With him out of the lineup — and operating under the assumption Walker isn’t ready to go on October 11 — Bjornfot or Moverare would be the two most logical solutions at LD. Both are more than capable. Only Björnfot is waiver exempt, though. He can easily be sent to Ontario while everything gets sorted out. Moverare played 19 games with the Kings last season and was solid. In fact, he showed everything Mark Yannetti said about him back when he was 17 years old.

Here’s an odd thing to think about… Bjornfot played more NHL games than any other defenseman for the Kings last season. He could start this season in the AHL due to a roster crunch.

QUESTION 5 – What will happen with Brandt Clarke?

We believe there is a good chance Clarke starts his 2022-23 campaign with the Kings. It’s way too early to tell if he’ll get nine NHL games before returning to the OHL. However, they came into camp with a rough plan to play him every preseason game and he’s certainly caught the attention of a lot of people this month — including Drew Doughty, who has praised him on several occasions. Clarke is an offensive dynamo and he just seems to make things happen when on the ice. Keeping him all season would be a bit of a quandary, as the Kings are loaded on the right side. His arrival in LA, no matter how temporary, will most likely push Spence to the AHL for now.

QUESTION 6 – What’s next for Nate Thompson?

Currently in camp on a Professional Tryout Agreement (PTO), if Thompson is offered a contract, he would be targeted to start the season in Ontario. His contract could be an AHL-only deal, which would provide him the most freedom should another NHL club come calling later this year. Or, the Kings could offer him a two-way contract, paying him several hundred thousand in the AHL, with NHL money only if he is recalled to the big club due to injury. The latter would also require him to pass through waivers before he’s assigned to the American Hockey League. Thompson is a great guy in the room, a versatile forward, and could be just what they’re looking for on a young Reign roster.

RELATED CONTENT:

Kings Of The Podcast: Ep. 136 – Nate Thompson, True-False, and Roster Spots

Kings Of The Podcast: Ep. 135 – Season Preview with Todd McLellan

Follow @mayorNHL

Photos by Daniel Stopani

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