This is not a drill. We repeat, this is not a drill.

NHL players will officially report to training camp in less than two weeks and the Kings first preseason game is only 15 days away?

As crazy as that might seem after such a long summer, here we are. It’s true.

If you just can’t wait to get a hockey fix, things will actually start to ramp back up in just a few days. Later this week, Kings Rookie Camp gets underway, and games will be played against the Sharks and Ducks next weekend. Full details of all those activities — including appearances of top prospects like Liam Greentree, Koehn Ziemmer, and Jakub Dvorak — can be found here.

Kings Training Camp Roster

Training Camp, as a general topic, actually consists of three separate camps. Things begin with Rookie Camp first. This is generally attended by players who are newer to the Kings pipeline. For example, Franky Pinelli won’t attend Rookie Camp, as he has already played two years of pro hockey in the AHL. By contrast, defenseman Kirill Kirsanov, selected during the same draft class (2021) will be attending Rookie Camp since he only recently signed his entry level contract and is just now coming over to North America.

Next comes the Kings portion of camp (hereinafter referred to as “Camp” to avoid confusion). This is where ‘everybody’ is in attendance — junior players, rookie campers, players on the NHL roster, guys competing for NHL jobs, AHL players, etc.

Coaches like Jim Hiller typically want to reduce this giant group of 60+ players down to a more manageable size as quickly as possible. Although they appreciate the prospects and AHL vets, most NHL coaches want to get down to business. They’re looking to focus on their 25-ish players that need to get ready for the NHL season.

Thus, there is typically an early Camp purge. Usually this comes after the first or second preseason game. Camp invitees are released, and junior players are returned to the CHL. High-end prospects like Greentree often stick around a little bit longer. Meanwhile 2025 draftee Jimmy Lombardi would be an example of somebody likely to return to his OHL team during the first round of cuts.

Next, the second major purge from Camp comes when it’s time to send players over to AHL camp for the Reign. This process is a little bit more involved because veteran players like Glenn Gawdin and Joe Hicketts need to first clear waivers before being assigned to Ontario. Conversely, prospects like Angus Booth and Jared Wright — who are both still on their ELCs — can be assigned there free and clear.

That whole process usually brings Kings Camp down to about 28-30 players. We’re still several weeks away from that point, though. To start out with, Camp will be the full squad.

While an official roster has yet to be released, it will feature the usual cast of characters.

From the Kings side, all players mentioned in our previous lineup projection article will be there:

Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Moore – Danault – Foegele
Perry – Turcotte – Armia
Mallot – Helenius – Thomas

Anderson – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Dumoulin – Ceci
Moverare – Burroughs

Kuemper
Forsberg

Additionally, all players previously mentioned in our Reign lineup projection article will be there too:

Wright – Gawdin – Chromiak
Pinelli – Guttman – Ziemmer
Lee – Brown – Ward
Connors – Lawrence – Jamsen
Hughes – Doty

Hicketts – Salin
Bolduc – Dvorak
Booth – Millar
Kirsanov

Portillo
Copley

And then add in the junior aged prospects and other players invited to Rookie Camp; that’s a pretty full boat to start Camp with. It’s a list including:

Forwards: Jan Chovan, Jake Crawford, Kenta Isogai, Jimmy Lombardi, Keaton Mastrodonato, etc.

Defensemen: Henry Brzustewicz, Will Sharpe, Jared Woolley, etc.

Goalies: Carter George, Mattias Sholl, etc.

Waivers will heavily play into things, so be sure to read the article linked below.

Kings Training Camp Schedule

Unlike the past few years, where the Kings were forced to take part of Camp on the road to Australia and Quebec City due to ongoing construction at Crypto.com Arena, all activities this year will take place at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo.

Rookie Camp is set to wrap up on Wednesday, Sept. 17. Although unconfirmed at the moment, main camp is expected to begin on Thursday, Sept. 18. That might end up being a medical and/or off-ice meeting day only, with on-ice activities beginning on Friday.

Last year, the Kings began Camp with four straight days of scrimmages, before playing their first preseason game. This time around, the Kings and Ducks will square off in the Empire Classic at Ontario’s Toyota Arena on Sunday, Sept. 21.

Looking at last year’s Camp schedule, the first few days looked like:

Group B Practice: 10:00 a.m. (NHL Rink 2)
Group A vs. B Scrimmage: 10:50 a.m.
Group A Practice: 12:15 p.m. (NHL Rink 2)
Group C Practice: 1:00 p.m.

We would expect this year’s schedule to follow something similar, if not exactly the same.

Monday, Sept. 22 could bring the first off day of Camp. After going hard for several days and then playing the preseason game on Sunday, players may need some rest (and travel time) before then playing back-to-back exhibition games on Tuesday, Sept. 23 in Vegas and Wednesday, Sept. 24. in Anaheim.

For a full look at the team’s six-game preseason schedule see here.

Mor information on LA’s Camp roster and official schedule is expected to be available soon.

MORE LA KINGS NEWS:

The List: Kings Could Lose These Players to Waivers During Training Camp

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