Every once and a while, it happens in a hockey game. A moment that may at first appear to be nothing is actually something. Such was the case nearly one year ago to the day; it came during a Kings preseason game in Ontario.
Second year forward — correction: second year NHL winger — Alex Laferriere was sent out to take a faceoff by coach Jim Hiller. Now, a winger taking a faceoff isn’t completely unheard of, it’s just rather rare. And especially not something you see a young forward do. Yet, just one season removed from his days at Harvard, there he was — Laferriere hopped over the boards at Toyota Arena and skated to the faceoff circle for the draw.
Postgame, he still seemed a little surprised at the whole turn of events. Not much was really made of it over the next six months or so. Yes, there was allegedly one random practice where the 23-year-old New Jersey native saw time at center for Hiller. Nothing ever really came of it though, so most thought it was just a one-off thing.
Then, there was the game on April 15 in Seattle.
Up until that point, Laferriere had taken a random faceoff here or there throughout the season. Nothing of consequence, just a random one or two now and again. That wasn’t the case against the Kraken, though, Hiller let him take 21 that night.
When the Kings traveled to Bakersfield on Saturday night, Laferriere actually played center. So, what’s Hiller up to?
Following Monday’s practice, LA’s bench boss offered some insight into a few of the attributes Laferriere brings to the table as a possible centerman.
“Center is a tougher job than wing, first of all, because you have to play down low in the D-zone,” began Hiller. “That’s really where it gets you. Everywhere else on the ice — outside the faceoff circles — it’s pretty similar. It’s once you get down [low] and if you end up as the low guy, which more often you do in the D-zone, it’s being able to box out. It’s reading, ‘Where’s your guy?’ He’s competitive. His defensive hockey sense and his understanding is at a very high level. So, most wingers really have a difficult time making that transition. There’s been some centermen that have pushed over to the wing. But because he has some of those attributes — he has a good balance, and he’s strong on his skates — there’s times, when necessary, that he might be able to make that transition.”
According to Hiller, this wasn’t some spur of the moment decision or even a recent revelation, it actually stems from a seed first planted when Laferriere turned pro in the summer of 2023.
“What we really noticed his first year with the team, because we didn’t have this in mind at all, he ended up down low quite a bit” Hiller began to explain. “And he was able to handle the situations. We’d go through it [on video], and we’re pretty nitpicky — ‘Oh, this guy got beat!’ — and you really didn’t say that much about Laff. So, we felt like if we’re in a pinch and we need someone to play center, maybe he can do it. So, we’re just trying to get him reps.”
If coaches are one thing, they tend to be coy when you press for details. True to form, Hiller is really no exception.
“You just never know; you can never have too many centers,” he remarked, in a non-committal way to what all of this may mean moving forward. “I don’t intend for him to play center this year, but you just never know. There are different scenarios. There are faceoffs; he’ll probably penalty kill this year, so can he take that penalty kill faceoff? Most teams have a left-handed center; they choose that dot more often than not. We don’t have a lot of right-handed centermen, so it’s getting those faceoff reps. There are different reasons that we’re just trying to give him the reps. It’s an opportunity to do that.”
Move along, nothing to see here… yet.
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