After a long summer off, hockey is back and there’s no time to waste. Rookie Camp 2025 kicked off at the Kings training facility in El Segundo on Thursday. It was the first of what will be just two days of practice at Toyota Sports Performance Center before the team busses down to Irvine for a pair of game in this weekend’s Golden State Rookie Faceoff.
Earlier today, we posted a feature story on defenseman Angus Booth. Below are some additional comments collected from a pair of LA’s top prospects, along with Ontario’s new head coach.
CARTER GEORGE
Last minute changes are nothing really new at Rookie Camps and Thursday was no exception. George normally wears jersey No. 32 in the OHL (yes, in honor of Jonathan Quick — and something he begrudgingly admits will likely never be possible if/when he makes it to the Kings NHL roster). He’s attended several camps for LA since being drafted in 2024, typically wearing No. 40. However, following the Kings acquisition of Joel Armia over the summer, that was out of the question for main camp. As such, George is back to wearing No. 70, which is what he wore during his brief run with AHL Ontario last season.
“It’s all over the place right now,” he told Mayor’s Manor, followed a bit of a chuckle. “Out of the options I had, I thought 70 was a good number. I like it.”
Last season was one of those whirlwind tours often thrust upon elite junior players, where he played games for a plethora of different teams.
“It was a pretty crazy year!” he said, as if he was still amazed a bit with how it all unfolded. “I had a couple weeks off after the season, then it was back here for Dev Camp before going to Minnesota for World Junior Camp. Obviously, it was pretty cool what I got to do last year and all of those experiences I was able to have. I think I learned a lot last year and it definitely helped push the needle on my development a little bit. Then, this summer, it was just back to training, back to the drawing board and square one.”
Coming up in 2025-26, it will likely be more of the same, including starting the season with Owen Sound (OHL) and then eventually joining Team Canada for World Junior Camp again in early December.
“Last summer, there was a little bit of uncertainty,” he explained. “Even though I went to the Summer Showcase [for Team Canada], but I no idea if I’d make the World Junior team or if I would even go back to the [Evaluation] Camp in December. There was just some uncertainty because you just never know. I didn’t know what was going to happen. Now that I went through it last year, and I was able to play there [at the World Juniors] and get the whole experience of the pressure and everything like that, I definitely think it’ll benefit me this year. Just going into it this year, being a little bit more familiar with the environment and stuff like that, more familiar with the people there, that should help me out a lot. Then I’ll be more comfortable in the games and more situations like that, having gone through it last year.”
With his OHL team waiting for him with open arms once he wraps up his time at camp with the Kings at some point later this month, George says he’s committed to being a sponge as long as he’s here in Southern California. The 19-year-old netminder also has some rather lofty goals.
“I want to learn a lot and try and get as much out of this as possible,” he began. “Hopefully, I’ll get to be in a couple skates with the big dogs in there, and we’ll see what happens there. I want to be able to prove myself and prove that I can play with those guys, so I’m looking forward to it. I just want to take as much in as I can while I’m up here to bring back.”
LIAM GREENTREE
Greentree’s opening remarks were those of a guy who has been to Toyota Sports Performance Center quite a few times since being selected by the Kings in June 2024.
“When you kind of know where things are just around the rink, it’s kind of nice, and knowing everybody is really nice,” said the 19-eyar-old winger. “It kind of makes it easier to transition into camp.”
It’s not just about his surrounding in El Segundo, though. Greentree spent quality time talking to various coaches and other folks inside the Kings organization throughout the summer.
“I talked to the to the development guys a decent amount over the summer,” he shared with Mayor’s Manor. “We talked about what they want for me and what they want to see from me. Obviously, talking to them makes it a lot easier. Knowing what I need to do coming into camp is huge.”
We could have asked a bunch of questions about his ongoing recovery from offseason wrist surgery, but — well, that seems to be behind him at this point, given his performance on Sunday night.
“It’s pretty good right now,” he said with a confident half-smile. “It was also pretty nice getting back to Windsor. I love Windsor, the city, and playing with the Spitfire on the on the front of the jersey is always nice. Getting into the game there was huge for me, coming just before camp here. Knowing what I need to do, it definitely helped get me ready.”
While Thursday was only Day 1 of rookie camp, Greentree was already feeling comfortable with a few of his early linemates. When we asked who he would he select as his perfect linemates for Saturday, if given a choice, he wasted no time responding. “I was playing with Kenny Connors and [Kohen] Ziemmer out there today and I thought we played pretty well. I think that’s who I’d like to play with on Saturday.”
He then proceeded to agree that those were a pair of guys who could create plenty of room for him on the ice. For what it’s worth, Greentree and Ziemmer played together on a line in two of the three Rookie Faceoff games last year.
COACH ANDREW LORDO
What’s old is new again. Coach Andrew Lord had not only been to TSPC before, but he had actually participated in various camps a few years ago during his time as head coach of ECHL Greenville. Today began a whole new journey for the 40-year-old bench boss. He’s now officially an AHL bench boss, having been hired to lead the Reign back in mid-July.
“I think this is my fifth camp here now, so I did a little more today than just push pucks like previous years,” he jokingly remarked.
In typical fashion, Day 1 was more about just getting things going than looking for anything of major substance.
“I think we had a lot of fun,” added Lord. “There’s always a build up to that Day 1 [of camp]. They’re excited; they’re all nervous. I thought the first session got some of the Jitters out and it seemed like everyone felt a little better in the second 40-minute [session]. We hit structure a little bit. I thought we hit pace a little bit, and I thought a lot of the guys looked sharp. So, good on the whole.”
Which one player was asking the most questions?
“I think they shared it around pretty good,” said Ontario’s coach, reflecting back over the day. “I thought we got everyone involved, I liked that. I think we definitely have to get our ‘group talk’ up more, but I thought a lot of guys one-on-one asked questions. We definitely had some good interactions – Greentree, [Angus] Booth, some of the guys you’d expect, for sure.”
Lord also specifically mentioned leaning on guys like Kaleb Lawrence and Aatu Jamsen on Day 1 — “They know the drill,” he said. “They did a good job helping lead the group.”
After wrapping everything up at TSPC, Lord was off to play some pickleball with the guys, helping them all bond a bit and get to know each other a bit better. Coaching 101 at its finest.
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