Quietly below the surface of all the talk surrounding bubble players and who might make the LA Kings opening night roster coming out of camp, there’s one story that seemingly nobody wants to address — where will Erik Portillo play this season?
In short, the Kings have their two netminders in LA set in stone with Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg. Conversely, every member of management has said, both publicly and privately, that rookies Hampton Slukynsky and Carter George will share the net in AHL Ontario. While young players manning the crease are occasionally sent to the ECHL, purely for playing time, that doesn’t appear to be an option worth exploring for two of the organization’s top five prospects.
So, how does Portillo fit in?
Further, if something were to happen to one of LA’s top two goalies, they’ve typically relied on a veteran 3G being recalled from Ontario. Neither Slukynsky nor George would fit that bill.
At the same time, they can’t just keep Portillo around — either in the NHL or AHL — and not play him. What good would that do; he likely wouldn’t be very sharp if pressed into action.
“I would say that at one point in time this summer, I thought about maybe starting [the season] with three goalies [in the NHL], and still might,” Kings GM Ken Holland recently shared on the dilemma. “When I saw the schedule — we [open the season] Wednesday in Colorado and then we have a couple of days off. Then, we play a game followed by three days off. Kuemper and Forsberg are going to need the net to make sure we keep them sharp.”
Yes, exactly.
“If you start rolling three goalies…” Holland continued. “Looking at the schedule, I want those two young goalies to play in the American League. So, we need to sort this out on the fly. Ports played well [last season]. Today, Ports is our number three goalie because of his age, his experience, how he’s played. I have to sort it out. We want those young goalies to play, we want Kuemper and Forsberg to each have a net, and we want [Portillo] to be the number three guy. With this short preseason, it’ll be hard to play guys. So, we have some tough decisions to make in goal.”
Adding more context to the conversation, earlier this week, coach Peter Laviolette alluded to Forsberg and Kuemper each starting two of the Kings four preseason games.
Thus, nobody is likely to see Portillo start a game of consequence for quite some time. At least that’s how the tea leaves are currently reading. Subject to change at a moment’s notice, of course.
“I’m just going about things day by day,” Portillo told Mayor’s Manor. “I’m talking to [Mike Buckley, goaltending coach], and doing everything I can to grab a spot on this team. That’s definitely my goal, and that’s what I want out of this camp.”
Now 26 years old, the Swedish-born netminder has completed three seasons with the Kings organization after his rights were acquired from the Sabres in 2023. Over that stretch, Portillo has posted save percentages of .918, .889, and .907 in the AHL, and earned a victory over the Ducks in his lone NHL appearance. He also had .916 and .926 SV%s in two separate playoff years with the Reign.
An injury two years ago sort of derailed his momentum, though, when he was sidelined for several months of the 2024-25 campaign. In part, the Kings responded by signing Forsberg to a two-year contract in the summer of 2025.
When Portillo ended up missing about a month of time last season, that signing looked good in hindsight. However, having five guys under contract for essentially four spots is creating some discomfort and questions regarding what’s next.
About the only element known for now is that Portillo won’t require waivers to be assigned to the AHL, if things ultimately land in that direction. So, there’s that.
More to come, as they say.
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I don’t understand why the Kings don’t want to assign one of George or Slukynsky to the ECHL. Quick played in the ECHL and Lombardi said it’s a good league for goalies. This would solve the logjam until one of Kuemper or Forsberg moves on.
I think that may be a real necessity this season
Absolutely. You have Portillo in Ontario as your #3 goalie along with whoever wins the goalie battle between George and Slukysnky. Plus, it frees up a roster spot in LA for another forward or defenseman. George and Slukysnky both need games.
This feels less like a goalie logjam and more like a self-inflicted management failure. The organization knew in 2025 that Kuemper, Forsberg and Portillo were all headed toward expiring contracts after 2026-27, with George and Slukynsky coming fast behind them. This had to be sorted out before this season.
Instead, all five developed well, nobody was moved, and now the Kings are boxed in. Worse, Portillo is currently on track for Group 6 UFA status if he finishes the year below 28 NHL games, so burying him as a No. 3 or sending him back to Ontario risks losing the very bridge goalie they should be evaluating.
Pair that with Holland saying the defense needed changes and then essentially bringing back the same group, and it looks less like bad luck than a pattern of foreseeable problems that simply weren’t addressed.