One week from today, a plethora of the Kings top prospects will report to Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo for this year’s Rookie Camp. Following medicals and a brief practice, the action will heat up right away on Friday night, when the team takes to the ice for the first of three games in the 2024 NHL Rookie Faceoff event.
Headlining the showcase that will feature seven NHL teams — up from the usual six, now with the addition of Seattle for the first time — will be Kings top defensive prospect, Brandt Clarke. Last season, his rookie campaign in the AHL, he finished with 46 points (10G, 36A) in 50 games. And his .92 points per game were tops among all defensemen who played more than five games.
Just a few months after being selected at the 2022 NHL Draft, Clarke suited up for the Kings at the Rookie Faceoff in San Jose and went on to lead all skaters in shots on goal at the four-day event. He also had an epic walk off (skate-off?) shootout goal to seal a win for LA over Vegas.
https://twitter.com/kingsgifs2/status/1571292703778013186
In goal, the Kings will have a handful of netminders to select from, including Erik Portillo. He too is coming off a stellar rookie campaign with the Reign and will be looking to put his skills on full display once again, especially having just signed a new three-year contract extension.
LA Kings 2024 Rookie Camp Roster
Forwards
Prospects Liam Greentree, Aatu Jamsen, Kaleb Lawrence, Francesco Pinelli, Koehn Ziemmer… plus: Bryce Brodzinski, Arvid Caderoth, Cole Davis, Patrick Moynihan, Ethan Neutens, Quinn Olson, John Parker-Jones, Oliver Tulk, Jake Wise, Luke Woodworth
Defensemen
Prospects Angus Booth, Brandt Clarke, Jakub Dvorak, Matthew Mania, Jared Woolley… plus: Parker Berge, Cole Krygier, Jack Millar, Luke Rowe, Corbin Vaughan
Goaltenders
Prospects Carter Geroge, Erik Portillo… plus: Kolby Hay, Samuel St-Hilaire, Jackson Parsons
Funny enough, while the Kings have rather quickly repaired their organizational goaltending depth in nearly head-spinning fashion (with Portillo-George-Slukynsky forming a formidable trio), it’s actually a netminder who is an invitee that should be earmarked as somebody to keep a close eye on. QMJHL product Samuel St-Hilaire is the only other player without a contract who the team is believed to be seriously considering for a new deal. The staff got an early look at him during Development Camp, including a nearly lights out performance in one of the scrimmages. Playing for the Sherbrooke Phoenix last season, St-Hilaire produced a .915 save percentage, that was fourth-best in the league. He also had the third-best goals against average (2.41) and tied for the third most shutouts (5).
NOTE: Game lineups will be posted on Mayor’s Manor each day, usually a few hours prior to puck drop.
2024 ROOKIE FACEOFF SCHEDULE
The Kings rookies are scheduled to hold an open practice at 10am on Thursday, Sept. 12. at TSPC.
Games are scheduled as follows:
Friday, Sept. 13
Game 1 – San Jose vs. Utah, 1:00 p.m.
Game 2 – Colorado vs. Anaheim, 3:30 p.m.
Game 3 – Vegas vs. Los Angeles, 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 14
Game 1 – Seattle vs. Colorado, 3:00 p.m.
Game 2 – Utah vs. Los Angeles, 7:00 p.m.
Sunday, Sept. 15
Game 1 – Vegas vs. Seattle, 1:00 p.m.
Game 2 – Anaheim vs. San Jose, 4:30 p.m.
Monday, Sept. 16
Game 1 – Colorado vs. San Jose, 11:30 a.m.
Game 2 – Utah vs. Vegas, 12:30 p.m.
Game 3 – Anaheim vs. Los Angeles, 3:30 p.m.
NOTE: All Kings games will be available via stream (link will be available on game day)
Rosters for Kings Opponents
Vegas Golden Knights Roster
Forwards: Braeden Bowman, Jakub Brabenec, Mathieu Cataford, Jakub Demek, Jordan Gustafson, Ben Hemmerling, Mikael Huchette, Bear Hughes, Jett Jones, Jacob Mathieu, Simon Pinard, Matyas Sapovaliv, Shane Smith, Sloan Stanick, Trent Swick, Kai Uchacz, Tuomas Uronen
Defensemen: Daniil Chayka, Artur Cholach, Joe Fleming, Viliam Kmec, Mazden Leslie, Samuel Mayer, Christoffer Sedoff
Goaltenders: Carl Lindbom, Jesper Vikman
Utah Hockey Club Roster
Forwards: Owen Allard, Cole Beaudoin, Kyle Crnkovic, Drew Elliott, Will Gavin, Tij Iginla, Sam Lipkin, Julian Lutz, Miko Matikka, Jacob Newcombe, Reggie Newman, Noel Nordh, Servac Petrovsky, Peter Repcik, Gabe Smith
Defensemen: Artem Duda, Terrell Goldsmith, Justin Kipkie, Maveric Lamoureux, Tomas Lavoie, Lleyton Moore, Maksymilian Szuber, Veeti Vaisanen
Goaltenders: Reid Cooper, Reid Dyck, Anson Thornton
Anaheim Ducks Roster
Forwards: Alexandre Blais, Sam Colangelo, Thomas Desruisseaux, Nathan Gaucher, Cutter Gauthier, Ruslan Gazizov, Simon Lovsin, Maxim Masse, Nico Myatovic, Sasha Pastujov, Coulson Pitre, Ethan Procyszyn, Beckett Sennecke, Yegor Sidorov, Carey Terrance, Jaxsin Vaughan, Jaxsen Wiebe
Defensemen: Rodwin Dionicio, Tyson Hinds, Tristan Luneau, Vojtech Port, Konnor Smith, Tarin Smith, Loic Usereau, Noah Warren
Goaltenders: Vyacheslav Buteyets, Calle Clang, Michael McIvor, Tomas Suchanek
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