Kings Open Training Camp in El Segundo
The Kings began their first training camp under coach Jim Hiller Thursday at the Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo with three practices.
Hiller became the Kings interim coach on Feb. 2 following the firing of Todd McLellan after a 3-8-6 stretch that dropped their record to 23-15-10. In the 34 regular-season games Hiller led the team, the Kings went 21-12-1, giving them the 10th best points percentage in the league during that span.
The Kings' season ended with a four games to one loss to the Edmonton Oilers in a first-round Stanley Cup playoff series.
The Kings dropped the interim from Hiller's title May 22.
The Kings' 68-players training camp roster includes 21 players who played at least one game for the team last season. The returnees include right winger Adrian Kempe, who led the team with a career-high 75 points, left winger Trevor Moore, who led the team with a career-high 31 goals, and three members of the Kings' 2012 and 2014 Stanley Cup-wining teams, centers Anze Kopitar and Trevor Lewis and defenseman Drew Doughty.
The Kings' offseason acquisitions include goaltender Darcy Kuemper, obtained from the Washington Capitals on June 19 in exchange for center Pierre-Luc Dubois. Kuemper had a 10-1-3 record and 2.10 goals against average in 19 games for the Kings in the 2017-18 season before a midseason trade to Arizona.
Three of the team's selections in the 2024 NHL draft are also participating in training camp, right winger Liam Greentree, their first-round choice, goaltender Carter George, their second-round choice, and defenseman Jared Woolley, their sixth-round choice.
The Kings will begin preseason play Monday in Salt Lake City against the Utah Hockey Club, which the NHL considers a new franchise, with players from the Arizona Coyotes. The Coyotes' franchise is inactive, with a right to reactivate if owner Alex Meruelo has fully constructed a new, state-of-the-art facility appropriate for an NHL team within five years.
Due to ongoing renovations at Crypto.com Arena, the Kings will not play preseason games there. However, they will play two preseason games in Southern California, both against the Anaheim Ducks, Sept. 30 at the Toyota Center in Ontario, the home of their American Hockey League affiliate, the Ontario Reign, and Sept. 30 at Honda Center.
The Kings will open the regular season Oct. 10 at Buffalo and play their home opener Oct. 24 against the San Jose Sharks following a seven-game road trip.
The Kings' offseason acquisitions include goaltender Darcy Kuemper, obtained from the Washington Capitals on June 19 in exchange for center Pierre-Luc Dubois. Kuemper had a 10-1-3 record and 2.10 goals against average in 19 games for the Kings in the 2017-18 season before a midseason trade to Arizona.
