And so it begins.
With a few dozen Kings rookies set to take the ice in El Segundo on Friday and plenty of excitement building toward this weekend’s Rookie Faceoff event in San Jose, all is not right in LA hockey circles. In fact, the first bit of adversity has arrived in advance of training camp opening in Los Angeles.
Per #GoKingsGo release – Kevin Fiala won't be ready to start training camp next week.
He "underwent a procedure related to the initial surgery to repair injuries sustained at the 2026 Olympics… A timeline for his return to play will be determined as he continues to recover. "
— The Mayor | Team MM (@mayorNHL) September 10, 2026
Thursday afternoon, it was revealed Kings forward Kevin Fiala will not be ready when veterans report to Toyota Sports Performance Center next week. After Fiala suffered a season-ending injury at the Winter Olympics in February, the team was already left wondering what might have been had the talented Swiss-born forward returned for the playoffs last April. With new coaches being hired over the summer, anticipation has been building for exactly how Peter Laviolette and crew are going to deploy Fiala and several of the other wingers.
FIRST LOOK: LA Kings 2026-27 Line Combos, Plus Salary Cap Outlook After July 1 Signings
For now, that will all have to wait.
While specific information is still somewhat hard to come by, here’s what we’ve been able to gather thus far… Even though Fiala was spotted skating at TSPC in April, a second procedure was needed at some point over the summer. And while this isn’t exactly the same situation as Drew Doughty’s injury a couple of years ago, we’ll draw a comparison to that injury and recovery process. Doughty had surgery and came back to play about four months later, then had a second surgery the following summer.
Fiala’s initial surgery occurred in mid-February. He was rumored to be prepping for a possible return had the Kings advanced to the second or third round of the playoffs. Would that have actually happened? We’ll never know. However, again, at some point in the past few months, Fiala underwent a second procedure to help with his recovery process.
At this time, a rough return date doesn’t seem to be available — with team sources instead preferring to let the process play out and leave it to Laviolette to provide further information once camp opens next week.
OK, So Now What?
From a roster perspective, first and foremost, this creates an opportunity for others. As noted here, the Kings were set to begin camp with too many players at forward. Sure, a little additional depth at center would be helpful, but that doesn’t change the math. The team can only carry a maximum of 23 players on the roster (and presumably 14 at forward), so there are going to be some camp cuts coming pretty quickly.
However long Fiala is out — from weeks to longer — that’s an opportunity for other players to show what they can do playing minutes they most likely wouldn’t have received otherwise.
With Fiala originally slotted to play wing on the second line, this isn’t simply an opportunity to play in a game, this would be filling a significant top-six role.
The projected lineup could go several different ways, so we’ll attempt to keep it brief for now. A top line featuring Artemi Panarin and Adrian Kempe is perhaps the only sure bet right now. Even if Quinton Byfield was originally going to center that line, will Laviolette move him down to 2C now to help balance things out? By contrast, if the initial plan was to let Byfield serve as the 2C (essentially continuing his role as the Fiala-whisperer), does that change now with this latest update — allowing Byfield to slide into the 1C role, thus causing a complete reconfiguration of the second line?
This, of course, is before even bringing up what it all means for the power play.
Many questions, few answers.
Such as, where do the following names slot into all of this: Erik Haula, Mats Zuccarello, Trevor Moore? Does Alex Laferriere get a shot to move up to the top-six now? What does this mean for Alex Turcotte, if anything? He was assumed to not yet have a solidified spot in the starting lineup.
Then, there are also guys like Jared Wright and Kenny Connors. They could actually have the most to gain from all of this. Not that they’ll take Fiala’s exact spot in the lineup, but with a good camp showing, either one of them could see their stock move from ‘likely targeted for AHL Ontario’ to ‘now part of the Kings.’ Lucky for both of them, they’ll get a leg up on any competition by playing in actual games this weekend, where Laviolette and the coaching staff are sure to be watching closely.
There’s an old expression. Something about when one door closes, another opens.
But Wait, There’s More
Before looking for any possible help from outside the organization, General Manager Ken Holland will first need to look at his salary cap situation. Putting Fiala on regular injured reserve won’t free up cap space. If he’s going to miss at least 10 games and 24 days of the regular season, they could put him on long-term injured reserve (LTIR). However, that would only free up the money until he’s set for a return.
ed note: It’s possible Fiala doesn’t go on LTIR for reasons similar to Corey Perry not going on LTIR at the start of last season.
With Fiala active on the roster — and assuming everybody else is healthy — they’re only expected to have about $1.7M in available cap space (see here for further details).
The two most obvious unrestricted free agents available at the moment are Chris Kreider and Patrik Laine. Earlier this week, the former had his contract terminated by Anaheim. On the surface, he wouldn’t appear to be a good fit because he reportedly wants a return to the Eastern Conference and is expected to come at a price tag north of $4M. As for the latter, he’s been linked to the Kings in various rumors for months with little to no action by Holland in that direction. Sure, he’s coming off a contract that carried an $8.7M cap hit last season, but he remains without a team after multiple injuries. On a one-year, low-cost deal, he’s perceived by some as a low-risk, high-reward option.
Will Holland and Laviolette see it that way or be content to fill the hole via one of their internal options? Camp just became a bit more intriguing either way.
MORE LA KINGS NEWS:
NHL RADIO REPLAY: Mayor’s Minutes – LA Kings 2026-27 Season Preview
REPORT: Major Changes Coming to Kings Bench, Three New Faces Joining Laviolette
UPDATED: What’s Next for LA Kings with Fiala Now Out for the Season?
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