News from the world of hockey is going to be coming fast over the next 10 days. From the Stanley Cup being awarded to the Draft in Las Vegas, those will just serve as appetizers for the week after — which will feature the opening of free agency, along with the Kings 2024 Development Camp.
Later today, the team is expected to officially announce their plans for next week’s mini-camp. As we’ve previously reported, this year’s annual summer gathering of the Kings top prospects is slated to have a slightly different format that we’re accustomed to. It will only be a three-day affair, with fewer scrimmages. Even so, it’s an exciting time of the year for LA’s development coaches, including Matt Greene, Jarret Stoll, Sean O’Donnell, and Mike Donnelly.
Meanwhile, Glen Murray, who heads up the Kings development efforts, is said to be putting the finishing touches on this year’s roster. From what we’ve heard, most of the Kings prospects will arrive in Los Angeles on Sunday, in advance of things getting underway at Toyota Sports Performance Center on Monday, July 1.
So, which prospects will be attending?
Typically, Dev Camp is largely comprised of Kings prospects from the prior three years (in this case, 2021-2023), plus the current year’s draftees (2024). That eliminates guys like Alex Laferriere, Andre Lee, and Martin Chromiak; all are now considered pro players. However, Aatu Jamsen, who was part of the 2020 Draft class is scheduled to participate. Each situation is slightly different and considering the 21-year-old forward recently signed his Entry Level Contract and will be coming over from Europe to play for AHL Ontario beginning in October, now is a good time to begin acclimating him to North America.
Below, we’ve put together a rough draft of the likely attendees. Keep in mind, this list will grow later this week with players selected at the 2024 NHL Draft and via a small handful of camp invitees.
Mark Yannetti, LA’s Director of Amateur Scouting, did an in-depth interview on Kings Of The Podcast last week, where he spent nearly an hour discussing updated notes on many of the team’s picks from the last few years. It was an insightful conversation you don’t want to miss (listen here).
One of the Kings top college prospects, Kenny Connors, also guested on the program over the weekend. Be sure to check out his Dev Camp preview interview here:
DRAFT: KINGS 2024 DEV CAMP ROSTER
Forwards
56 Ryan Conmy – U. of New Hampshire
73 Kenny Connors – UMass
79 Samuel Helenius – Ontario Reign
61 Jack Hughes – Northeastern
74 Aatu Jamsen – Pelicans (Liiga)
88 Kaleb Lawrence – London (OHL)
xx Quinn Olson – Reign, AHL contract
38 Francesco Pinelli – Ontario Reign
51 Jared Wright – Denver University
89 Koehn Ziemmer – Prince George (WHL)
Defensemen
81 Angus Booth – Shawinigan (QMJHL)
54 Brandt Clarke – Ontario Reign *
67 Braden Doyle – Northeastern
54 Jakub Dvorak – Swift Current (WHL)
## Kirill Kirsanov – KHL (injured)
43 Matthew Mania – Flint (OHL)
## Jack Millar – Reign, AHL contract
60 Otto Salin – HIFK Helsinki (Liiga)
59 Jack Sparkes – Muskegon (USHL)
Goalies
1 Erik Portillo – Ontario Reign
85 Hampton Slukynsky – Fargo Force (USHL)
* Clarke is the biggest question mark on this list. We’re expecting an update on his status over the next 24 hours. Stay tuned.
Camp Invitees
For those unfamiliar, invitees aren’t actually property of the team. Typically, these players fall into three categories – undrafted players who are committed to attend college the following season, players who are there as a favor to somebody in the organization, and Canadian junior players who somehow slipped through the NHL Draft. While they’re technically free agents in most cases, that’s often only true for a very short period of time. If they’re still Draft eligible, they need to be signed by a specific date in October or they’ll go back into next year’s NHL Draft.
Usually, the players invited to Dev Camp are asked to return for Rookie Camp in September. In the past, LA has even signed a few such players after an impressive performance at camp – most notably, goalie Martin Jones.
This year’s list of 2024 invites should be available in a few days. We expect around 3-6 invitees.
2024 Draft Class
On June 28 and 29 in Las Vegas, the Kings will select their 2024 Draft class. They currently have four picks, beginning with No. 21 in Round 1. They are without a second, third, or fifth round pick at the moment; yet do still hold picks in the fourth, sixth, and seventh rounds.
2024 DEVELOPMENT CAMP SCHEDULE
While the official details have not been released just yet, we would anticipate the format following a similar cadence to years past – which would include two morning sessions, followed by an afternoon scrimmage. That format would alternate each day of camp.
POSSIBLE SCHEDULE:
Monday, July 1
9:30am – Forward Group
11:00am – Defense Group
3:00pm – Scrimmage
Tuesday, July 2
9:30am – Defense Group
11:00am – Forward Group
3:00pm – Scrimmage
Wednesday, July 3
9:30am – Forward Group
11:00am – Defense Group
3:00pm – Scrimmage
Word is, there will most likely not be a full day team outing this year (i.e. the day Tyler Toffoli went to the beach and was fried like a lobster).
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