And just like that, it’s time to turn the page. With the Winter Olympics over, regular hockey life is about to resume. On Tuesday morning, the Kings players and coaches participated in the final day of mini-camp. Beginning tomorrow, there will be a morning skate leading into three straight home games over four nights — kicking off with back-to-back games against Vegas and Edmonton.
Below are 10 tidbits coming out of coach Jim Hiller’s final full scale practice with the team before their regular season resumes on Wednesday.
1. Adrian Kempe’s Return
For the first time since the acquisition of Artemi Panarin, the Kings were able to give their new top line a test drive.
“He’s one of the most skilled players in the league,” said Kempe of his new linemate. “Obviously, we didn’t see him too much when he played for the Rangers, because we only face them twice a year. But everybody has seen what he can do, everybody’s seen his highlights, going back to the Chicago days and in a Rangers jersey, as well. It’s a lot of fun to have him here; a lot of fun for me to be on the same line as him. He can make some really good plays out there. For me, I’m just trying to get up to speed with him as quickly as I can before the game tomorrow. It felt good in practice, felt good on the power play. Just trying to watch his game a little bit and learn, just trying to be in the right spot.”
2. Kempe The Hockey Scout
Even on the other side of the globe, Kempe took the opportunity to learn as much about Panarin as he possibly could.
“I talked to Mika [Zibanejad] a little bit during the tournament, and all he had to say was good things about him,” shared Kempe. “Obviously, it’s a little bit different because he’s a righty and I’m a lefty. Mika’s a center too, and I’m a right wing, so it’s a little bit different. But I tried try to watch some video of him; and tried to watch some video of other guys that have had success playing with him, what they do, where they play, and all that kind of stuff. Like I said, I’m just trying to catch up to where the team is at right now. I’ve had a couple days off, so the body’s feeling good, and the mind is rested. I’m ready to go, and hopefully we can have a good finish to the year.
3. The Line Combos
Based upon line rushes, here’s how things aligned:
Panarin – Laferriere – Kempe
Byfield – Kopitar – Moore
Foegele – Turcotte – Kuzmenko
Ward – Helenius – Perry
With the top-6 pretty much known since last week, all eyes remain on where Hiller will place Joel Armia when he returns tomorrow.
It likely comes down to one of two options:
Foegele – Turcotte – Kuzmenko
Armia – Helenius – Perry
OR
Armia – Turcotte – Kuzmenko
Ward – Helenius – Perry
4. Fitting Armia into the Puzzle
What’s On Hiller’s mind?
With at least 14 healthy forwards available heading into tomorrow night, Hiller gave an interesting answer when asked if this has been more like a week of practice or more like a mini-camp, where players are fighting for spots in the lineup.
“I think [I have] a pretty good idea,” said LA’s bench boss, when discussing his lineup preparation. “Having said that, there’s a player — who I won’t name — who has, I thought, really jumped out. He’s had five days of practice, so probably improved his spot in the lineup. I’m not going to name names, but I would say that.”
5. Let the Speculation Begin
First off, it’s likely safe to assume that Hiller was speaking about a forward. Even GM Ken Holland has commented that he likes the defense as is.
With that in mind, let’s build off the Armia puzzle piece section above. We had pretty much already gathered that 11 of the 12 forward positions were spoken for. Realistically, the only debatable spot was either LW3 or LW4, depending how Hiller wanted to assemble his bottom-6.
Thus, using deductive thinking, this would suggest the impressive player has either been Warren Foegele or Taylor Ward. One of them is staying in and the other is likely going to be a healthy scratch on Wednesday.
Maybe he was referring to Jeff Malott. However, that the type of thing a coach says to boost the spirits of a healthy scratch. And with Malott not skating among the top-12 today, to give that type of praise, you have to mention his name. Hiller didn’t. So…
It has to be Foegele or Ward, right?
6. The Power Play
For what it’s worth, Panarin and Brandt Clarke each saw time on both power play units during Tuesday’s practice. The first group was 72-55-9-10-92 and the second group was 96-14-72-11-92.
In each scenario, Quinton Byfield and Alex Laferriere were playing the bumper position, while Corey Perry and Anze Kopitar were playing net front.
We’re assuming — there’s that word again — that Clarke was likely just holding a spot for Drew Doughty on the second unit. The latter is set to rejoin the team tomorrow. It’s unlikely they’ll work on that at morning skate, so we may not get actual confirmation until the game against Vegas.
“We’re just trying to work through all that,” Hiller shared. “Obviously, the puck is going to run through Panarin a lot. He’s been able to play both sides of the ice. We just have to figure it out; he might play him one side, and we might just switch him. We might play him on the other side, and that’ll affect where some of the other players go. We just have to go through that. We have to review the video, but we have to have a plan for him. He might get time on both units.”
7. Turcotte Continues to Roll Along
All signs appear good to go for Alex Turcotte, who missed several games just before the Olympic break.
“I feel really good,” he said. “It was kind of a close call regarding coming back before the break. I was already working out and skating. So, yeah, I feel great. I’m excited to play. It feels like forever, so we’re all looking forward to it.”
With the recent Panarin trade and various injuries throughout the season, Turcotte’s role has seemingly been in flux at various points the past few months. What does he expect coming out of this break?
“To play my game, I think that’s the biggest thing,” stated the Illinois native. “Just do what I was doing before the break came. That’s about it, not too much else. … I know what my strengths are. I just kind of play my game and I’m going to play the same way no matter who I play with. That’s the mindset you have to have. You never know, there’s a lot changes. I think that just helps with the consistency, just play your game and don’t worry about the other side.”
8. Kempe on His Olympic Experience
“It was really special. I really enjoyed it, a great experience for me. I didn’t really know what to expect going into the tournament with everything going on around it, with the village and everything. But I had a great time. I really enjoyed the two weeks. There was a lot going on around the city, in general, not just hockey, but other sports — so it’s a lot of fun to see. It was a lot of fun to see other athletes, what they do, how they prepare themselves for their [events] and everything. Obviously, disappointed in the result, but I really enjoyed it. I thought it was great.”
9. Kempe on the Smaller Olympic Rink
“Not really,” he said, when asked if the three-foot smaller ice changed the game in any noticeable way. “The only thing I thought was that behind the net was a little bit bigger. I don’t know if the zone, in general, just felt a little bit weird because every time I had to park behind the net I felt like there was a lot of room. I don’t know if that affected it, but it didn’t really feel smaller at all. And in talking to some other guys too, they said that it wasn’t a big difference from what we felt before, so I guess that’s a good thing.”
10. Kempe’s Reaction to Kevin Fiala’s Injury
Although the injury took place over a week ago, this was Kempe’s first opportunity to speak about the situation since returning to Los Angeles.
“Obviously, really sad for him. It sucks for him, for us, for everybody here. He’s such a big part of this team; especially going into the final stretch of this season, he’s a big key player to our team. It’s really sad to see him go down like that. I wish him all the best in his recovery coming back, and hopefully we can make the best out of it for him for the rest of the season.”
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