Wednesday brought a bit more normalcy back to the Kings Development Camp schedule. After the prospects were treated to an afternoon on the beach just 24 hours ago, it was right back to work with a drills session for each position in the morning and scrimmage a few hours later.
And we’re keeping the ball rolling here too as we have another 10 Tidbits to pass along from Day 3 of Dev Camp 2025.
1. Big Time Needle Movers
2. Thanks for the Invitation
Over the past few days, we’ve not only tried to share key nuggets on the two dozen Kings prospects in camp, but also some of the invitees in town. Here’s another one to keep an eye on — Jake Crawford. He’s a 6-foot-3 center from Owen Sound (OHL). Yes, that also means he’s teammates with LA’s all-world goalie prosect Carter George; and they’re good friends off the ice. However, take note of the fact that Crawford is a big center, a position LA’s pipeline is a little thin at currently.
A native of Barie, he put up a paltry 25 points (8G, 17A) in 65 games last season. While it’s nothing that jumps off the page, the left shot pivot just turned 18 years old, so there’s still some development time ahead of him. He’s already 180 lbs. and he continues to work on adding bulk. Scouts who watch him regularly say he has good speed and doesn’t quit… ever. He also served as alternate captain in Owen Sound during the 2024-25 campaign, a testament to his leadership and character. The raw tools appear to be there for a potential breakout season next year.
3. Jay (not James) Reeder
The Denver University forward is having a week that is feeling a lot like his just completed freshman year of college. He came in a little unassuming, partially because he had to skip last year’s Dev Camp. Thus, even though he was selected by LA at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, this is actually his first time on the ice at El Segundo. Tipping the scales at around 170 lbs., the Illinois native doesn’t look too intimidating off the ice. Once he straps on the skates, it’s a different story. His skills start to come to the forefront. At DU, he was playing at the team’s second line by the time the playoffs started, a promotion that gradually developed throughout the campaign. Coaches saw early value in him and he continued to rise up the ranks. That’s pretty much what’s been happening here over the past few days. It will be rather intriguing to see if can package it all together and be one of the real stars in Thursday’s big finale, the annual Black vs. White three-period scrimmage.
For anybody unfamiliar with Reeder, here are just a few of the highlights from his 2024-25 season: received the team’s Freshman of the Year Award, led all DU freshmen in scoring (21 points: 11G, 10A in 44 games), posted a plus-17 rating, led the Pios with a 18.6% shooting percentage, took only two penalty minutes all year, and finished with three game-winning goals.
4. Meet the Bruiser
Like Liam Greentree from a year ago, LA’s first round pick in 2025 (Henry Brzustewicz) is finding new ways to catch the eye of people nearly every time he’s on the ice at Dev Camp. In a related tidbit, His older brother Hunter was selected by Calgary at the 2023 NHL Draft and spent last year with the Flames’ AHL affiliate. That is, all the way up until the end of the 2024-25 NHL regular season, when he was called up to the big club and ironically enough made his debut for Calgary at Crypto.com Arena during the makeup game played in mid-April.
How long will it be before the younger Brzustewicz makes his debut for the Kings? There’s no need to rush things. For now, he’ll go back to OHL London for 2025-26, where he’ll be partnered with fellow Kings prospect Jared Woolley. They’re looking to get minutes while London looks to win their third straight OHL title and defend their 2025 Memorial Cup championship.
5. Back to the Future
What does Corey Perry have to do with Kings prospects, some might be wondering. Well, although he wasn’t participating on the ice at TSPC on Wednesday, there was a myriad of conversations overheard in the stands by fans debating the former Ducks forward joining the dark side during free agency.
It’s also worth noting that you just never know what you’re witnessing at summer Dev Camp and/or September’s Rookie Camp, In fact, just like Anze Kopitar and so many other future stars, Perry actually participated in one of the early rookie tournaments featuring LA and Anaheim prospects.
More on that here:
6. Mixing it Up Just a Bit
This year’s Dev Camp schedule called for a total of three scrimmages. We had notes from the first one here, and this week will conclude with another one on Thursday.
Wednesday’s scrimmage was actually a bit unique. It was more like two mini-scrimmages, one that was done in controlled fashion — and even featured live goalie swaps on the fly. And then the second scrimmage was played under more typical rules.
7. Oh Yeah, The Roster
Much to the disappointment of Grant Slukynsky, he was still on the same team as his brother… for now.
8. Greentree Clarification
From the ICYMI department, don’t get too excited seeing Greentree’s name on the scrimmage roster. He is not participating in games this week, even though he is skating during the practice sessions. As reported earlier this week, LA’s top prospect is recovering from recent surgery on his wrist. It’s nothing to be concerned about, as it was rather routine and he is expected to be a full go for training camp.
On Wednesday, the talented winger even received some special 1-on-1 instruction over on the side rink (ed. note: often referred to as ‘the pond’ at TSPC).
9. Another Lombardi in the Fold
There’s no relation, but another Lombardi joined the Kings fold over the weekend when forward Jimmy Lombardi was selected in the fourth round. Listed at an even 6-feet, the Toronto area native seemed like he has good awareness of where his teammates were throughout the controlled scrimmage. Whenever he had the puck on his stick, he was in control. He also displayed more confidence than many of the other players when trying to defend.
Along those same lines, Koehn Ziemmer excelled in several of the drills, whereas others had to redo things when missing a pass or fumbling the puck.
10. A Thousand Words and More
How about we wrap up with a few photos! As noted previously, our full trio of photogs have been at Dev Camp this week taking plenty of fresh pics. Here’s just a small taste (and we’ll have even more to share next week):
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