Legendary rock band AC/DC sang, “It’s a long way to the top, if you wanna rock ‘n’ roll.” It’s a tune that easily could have been a metaphor of the path traveled by future NHL players.
And goaltender Erik Portillo — still early into his pro hockey story — already knows all too well just how applicable the story is.
“I tell you, folks. It’s harder than it looks,” goes the song at one point.
In the case of Portillo, being 6-foot-6 may have given him a leg up on the competition, yet the 24-year old netminder has ridden those same busses that carry young, up start bands. He’s done the hard work in practice and is now waiting for his big break.
It’s almost here. Sort of.
Originally from Sweden, Portillo moved to the United States in 2019 and joined USHL Dubuque. Looking over thar roster, even the most ardent hockey fan would be hard pressed to recognize any of his teammates that season. In 27 games, Portillo backstopped the Fighting Saints to a 19-5-1 record with a .915 save percentage. Scouts liked what they saw, and he was drafted in the third round by Buffalo.
The next year, it was off to the University of Michigan, where he’d spend three seasons. Nearing the end of his junior year, a trade went down that saw the Sabres send his NHL rights to the Kings.
From that moment, Portillo has been anointed the next big thing in the Kings pipeline. Although they’ve gone on to add Hampton Slukynsky and Carter George — to form a strong trio of candidates who may one day police the crease in LA — the 24-year-old Swede is scheduled to arrive much sooner timeline, even currently standing on the doorstep of his first NHL start.
With four games in seven days this week, including a back-to-back set of games immediately following Thanksgiving, Mayor’s Manor has confirmed he will make his NHL debut.
Just getting here this season has been its own twisting process. First, there was a contract delay over the summer. While neither side really anticipated much angst over getting his signed again, you just never know until it’s finally done. Well, in late August — almost on cue — he signed a three-year extension with an AAV of $783k.
Coming off a 2023-24 campaign in AHL Ontario that saw Portillo lead the Reign with 39 regular season starts, along with getting the call for all eight playoff games. Further, his 24 wins were second best in the AHL among all first-year goalies, while his .918 save percentage was fourth best (and sixth best when looking at all goalies, regardless of experience level).
With that, cam higher expectations this season — something he hasn’t even been able to settle in and respond to. Portillo played one game in October (giving up five goals) and then missed the next few weeks with an undisclosed illness.
“The staff did a really good job of taking care of me and kind of leveling up as we’ve gone along,” he said.
Portillo gave up just one goal in his return on Nov. 1, and then things went sideways. Consecutive starts where he gave up four goals in each game had some wondering what was going on. Most of that worry went away when he allowed just one goal the following game and looked more like the Portillo from last season.
“The second year is always the toughest one,” explained Reign coach Marco Sturm. “Usually, when the first year is over, you’re excited. You had a good run, but can you do it again and can it get better? Same thing with a goalie. I think Ports had an outstanding year last year, better than we expected. He had a great run. Now, expectations were a little bit higher. I think it took him a little bit of time this year — training camp, preseason game, first few games with the Reign, I think he wasn’t there yet. Now, you can tell, every week he has gotten better and better, and better.”
A call-up to the Kings earlier this month should have helped his confidence even more. He wasn’t scheduled to play. Just being around the team, though, and getting a chance to experience the NHL routines for the first time was an investment in his future.
Why was he sent back down then last weekend? Playing time, that’s all.
Following a 33 save performance and 4-1 victory on Saturday night in San Diego, Sturm admitted to having some reservations about putting Portillo back in the Ontario net that night.
“I’m not gonna lie, I was nervous,” said the NHL veteran turned AHL head coach. “For him, for a goalie, it’s tough to not play for a whole week; to just practice against really good shooters up in the NHL. So, I was a little bit worried. But, he felt very comfortable right away and he made some really good stops.”
Since then, Portillo is back up with the Kings and is expected to make his NHL debut in the days ahead.
“He’s definitely really close to where he was last year, and he will be even better moving forward,” Sturm boasted, as he often does once he gains confidence in one of his young players.
“He wants it so badly,” Sturm continued. “You almost have to slow him down. We’ve had some great conversations in the past and we just have to slow him down because he wants it almost too much. That’s not good either. He really likes [watching] Jonathan Quick — which I didn’t know at first. So, it was easy for me because I played with and coached Quickie. Ports wanted to hear a lot of things about Quickie. And the one thing about Quickie, yes, he’s dialed in. But, also, he’s very calm, during the game and time outs, all that kind of stuff. So just by listening and even watching Jonathan Quick, I think he’s learned a lot.”
At the end of the aforementioned AC/DC song, they claimed “It’s a long way, you should’ve told me it’s a long way. Such a long way.”
Just like coming to America, just like being drafted, just like signing his first pro contract, debuting in the NHL is just one step forward in the journey. Portillo will need to pass that test before eventually getting more starts — whether that be this season or even next year.
It’s a long way to being an NHL starting goaltender.
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