We check in on the Kings through 4 games plus a prospect report on future Kings

We check in on the Kings through 4 games plus a prospect report on future Kings

We look at the LA Kings through the first four games of the season, plus an early season check-in on some possible future Kings. That and more on this edition of Locked On LA Kings. You are Locked on Kings, your daily podcast on the Los Angeles Kings, part of the Locked On podcast network. Your team every day. Hey Kings fans, welcome to Lockdown LA Kings, part of the Lockdown podcast network, your team every day. Thanks for making Lockdown LA Kings your first listen every day. We are free and available wherever you get your podcast and on YouTube. Today’s episode is brought to you by FanDuel. Download the FanDuel app now by visiting FanDuel.com and win $300 in bonus bets if your first $5 bet wins. I’m Eddie Garcia, your host of Locked on LA Kings. I’ve worked in sports media for the past 30 years. also one of the co-hosts of Locked on NHL Game Night, a nightly podcast and YouTube show that wraps up the night in the NHL. And I’m a passionate LA Kings fan. Have been for over 30 years. Well, the LA Kings have played four games this season and it has been four eventful games so far. The first game, tough home opener, 4-1 loss to the Avalanche. Game number two, big comeback win in Vegas as the Kings are down two in the third period. Eventually win it 6-5 in a shootout. Game number three, probably the King’s best all-around game of the season, but no points to show for it in a 3-2 loss in Winnipeg. And game four, terrible start, allowing three power play goals in the opening period, only to see the Kings mount a stirring comeback in the third period with three goals of their own, eventually losing in a shootout to Minnesota 4 to3. All four opponents that the Kings have faced so far this year made the playoffs a year ago. All of them expected to be in the playoff hunt again this year. And for the Kings, I guess maybe not too shocking that we haven’t seen the Kings team that we’re used to seeing yet as we look at the stats going into Wednesday’s action. This is a Kings team that has allowed a total of 15 goals in four games this season. That is the second most in the NHL behind only Tampa Bay with 16. That’s a surprise there as well. The Kings ranked third in the NHL in penalties committed through the first four games of the season with 23. Only the Blackhawks and Lightning have committed more. And the Kings have allowed seven power play goals tied with Columbus for the most allowed so far in the NHL. So, lots of penalties taken. Tough schedule. It’s early in the season. Those could be pointed at excuses. Uh they could also be pointed out as fair reasons why we haven’t seen the Kings team that we’re used to seeing quite yet. Uh I think the Kings will return to that defensively responsible team that we have come to appreciate uh here sooner rather than later. I’m also encouraged that the Kings have shown an ability to be able to rally down multiple goals. It’s not something we’re used to seeing with the Kings. Uh, and you know, typically they don’t put themselves in that kind of position necessarily to be down by more than a goal late in a game. Um, but that is going to happen at various points even if the Kings are able to get back to playing that stingy defense that we’re used to seeing. Maybe they have an off night, maybe the goalender’s off night, maybe it’s just puck luck going the other way and you’re down a couple of goals. You need to have the ability to be able to come back. They’ve shown the ability to do that uh twice so far in their four games this season in Vegas and in Minnesota. One of them resulted in a win, the other one in a shootout loss. But uh I think there is confidence there that if they need to score goals late that it is something that they have the ability to do. I also don’t know how many times last season the Kings pulled their goalie late and tried to tie up a game with an extra attacker. I don’t I looked I tried to look it up. They don’t apparently they don’t have that stat. At least I couldn’t find it in a minutes long investigation as my friend Ben Mallerie used to say. Uh but I think with the players that we have now, that fiveman power play unit out there on the ice, the way they can move the puck, I’m actually encouraged that if the Kings find themselves in that situation that they have a decent shot at being able to tie up a game, go into overtime or a shootout and at least get a point. Um, again, it’s that little offensive edge. We haven’t really seen too much from the Kings over the past few years or so. Now, that said, it is pretty clear that we will need to see the old kings in the relatively recent uh future. Uh, the stingy kings, the kings that limit uh goals and shots on goal. um shot suppression um that does need to get here relatively quickly because yes, it’s early in the season and there you can talk about all the penalties taken, things like that. If they clean those things up, I think they’ll be okay. But there is it there’s not a lot of time to say, well, it’s early. Uh you’ve got the first month of the season at best. 10 to 12 games need to get to your identity. Do the things that make you who you are. We haven’t really seen that. We’ve seen that at times, but not consistent. Certainly, the Kings have not put three solid periods together. Even that game against Winnipeg, they didn’t start off great. Played a second and third periods were really, really good. The first period though, about the first half, the first period was not very good. And uh we saw them again taking penalties and things like that. So, waiting to see the Kings put that full 60 minutes together. Hopefully we can see that soon. Hopefully they can get a home ice win coming up. They’ve got the Penguins here on Thursday. A team that has started off a little bit better than I think a lot of people thought they would. Um, and you know, this point of the season, everybody’s in it. So there’s, you know, everybody is still excited about it. Everybody still thinks we’ve got a shot. Optimism is still there. Maybe unless you’re the Buffalo Sabres, but for pretty much everyone else, you’re feeling like, okay, it’s a new season. Things are going to be different. and then as things go along maybe that changes. But uh it is again I think there is some legitimate reasons why we haven’t seen the Kings team that we’re used to. Uh I think some of that is um you know something that you can point to and understand. But again, you don’t have that much time to say it’s early or that much time to say we need to figure it out. They it needs to happen in the next couple of weeks here. We need to see the Kings get back to the hockey that we’re used to seeing them play and that’s good solid defense. Uh, as far as the individuals so far on the season through four games, Adrien Kempe, who led the Kings in points last year, is leading them again. At this point, five points, two goals, three assists. And I thought he got off to a slow start. I thought his first two games he didn’t really look like the juice that we’re used to seeing. Last two games though, he has been very, very good. Quinton Biffield and Anjie Kopitar each have four points. Q with two goals and two assists. and the captain with four helpers. Still waiting to see a little bit more from Warren Fogle and Alex Leferier. Uh two players that have yet to get a point on the season. Uh Fogle is a guy who always seems to be flying around the ice. Haven’t quite seen that typical juice from him yet, that typical kind of um flying around attitude. He he just hasn’t hasn’t been himself yet, at least the player we saw for almost all of last season. and Alex Afairier. Yeah, he’s off to a little bit of a slow start. I I’m not a huge fan of the demotion for him to the fourth line. Thought that was a little bit too soon, especially when you’re replacing him with a very solid but offensively challenged Joel Ar. Um so I I don’t hopefully Alex Farrier can fight his way kind of out of that situation, get a goal here soon in the next game or so and hopefully go from there. We’ve seen as far you look at the young guys, uh I think Alex Turk’s been pretty good. Uh Brandt Clark, who we’ll talk about in a second, been excellent. Quinton Biffield’s been good. So, the younger guys who we were looking to take a step forward, they’ve all pretty much delivered, but not yet for Alex Lefarier, and he’s already found himself uh in a in a position where he’s been kind of demoted. Brand Clark, though, when you look at the defense, I think has been great both offensively and defensively. He’s playing a responsible defensive game and he’s making things happen offensively. You can see his confidence growing game by game and that’s really exciting. As for the newcomers, Brian Dumlan and Cody Cece are both a minus five on the season. We’ve seen the switch with Dumlan on the top line with Drew Dowy, Mikey Anderson on the fourth line with Cody Cece. Uh it was it seemed to work okay five on five in the game against Minnesota. We’ll see how it goes going forward and how long they will stick with that alignment. Goalie Darcy Keer is still looking to get on track. Didn’t have a great opening night against Colorado. Thought he was really good against Winnipeg. Um was good for the most part against Vegas and Minnesota, but no wins yet through three starts. 3.35 goals against average and an 868 save percentage. I said Vegas. He didn’t play against Vegas. uh played against Minnesota and against um Winnipeg. So, the Kings season is not the only one that is underway. The Ontario Rain have played their first two games as well. We’ll tell you how they’ve looked. We’ll do that next here on Locked in LA Kings, your team every day. The NFL season is here and FanDuel is making sure you’re ready for kickoff with a can’t miss offer. Right now, new customers can bet just $5. And if your bet wins, you’ll get $300 in bonus bets to use across the app. I love using FanDuel because it fits however you like to bet. Player props, building a same game parlay, or even jumping in live as the action unfolds. It makes every game more exciting, whether you’re watching your team or just keeping an eye on your fantasy lineup. It’s quick, easy, and the best way to add a little more energy to your Sunday or your Monday or your Thursday. So, are you ready to play? Download the FanDuel app now by visiting fanduel.com to get started. That’s fuel.com to place your first $5 bet. All right, so the Ontario Rain started their season. They’ve played a couple of games so far, both against the Tucson Road Runners uh and uh they unfortunately uh lost their season opener and then won their next game. So they are uh 10 and one on the season. Uh, as far as their home opener, uh, they got goals from Andre Lee and Franchesco Penelli led 2-1 after the first period. Atu Yamson scored a power play goal in the second. Rain led 3-2 after two. Akquil Thomas’s third uh, third period goal. Um, but the game tied 4-4 going to overtime where the rain lost 5-4 in that opener. Ontario goalie Eric Portillo allowed five goals on 27 shots in the loss, but the rain would rebound in their second game also against Tucson. Akquil Thomas scoring his second goal of the season. And the two teams are tied at one after one. Joe Higgins and Odo Seline scored their first goals of the season to give Ontario a 3-2 lead after two periods. Martin Cromac’s power play goal, his first of the season, iced it in the third in the rain. Get their first win of the season, 4-2. Again, 10-1 on the season for Ontario. Goalie Eric Portulla getting the win in that second game, allowing two goals on 21 shots. So, that was the basics as far as the first two games for the rain, but we have some analysis from our our Ontario rain fan correspondent. His name is Don. He’s in the San Frernando Valley and he is uh someone who is going to be watching every rain game for us and giving us a little bit beyond the box score. So, uh Don talked about the first two games of the season. Said uh the best two rain players in the season opener went were Franchesco Penelli and Akquil Thomas. He said that Andre Lee showed good mobility and some unexpected speed for a big guy. Kenny Connors, uh, showed spunkiness and was alert. Uh, he said he clearly plays a 200 foot game. The smarts and the effort are obviously there. He says he saw physical play from Connors, plus uh, winning a few faceoffs. He said he has an assist uh, in his second game for his first pro point, and he leads the entire rain team at a plus four through two games. He says, “Keep your eye on this guy.” Talking about Kenny Connors. The second game he said was largely dominated by AHL regulars with some help from the dynamic Akquil Thomas who said who said he had another outstanding game at both ends of the ice. Said that also another efficient game from Kenny Connors. He talked about two young defenseman Kil Kenoff and Yakob D’vorak. Said they played together for most of the game. Kirstenov played on the right. his offside. Both players are left shots. Chrisov, he says, uh, or Kenov, uh, looks solid in both games so far. He says he has a simple game, handles the puck as little as possible. As soon as he gets the puck, he’ll tap it, shovel it, or send it to a teammate or a target area. He does not carry the puck much, but he has been effective and has stayed out of trouble when moving the puck in the first couple of games. He says he’s physically as strong as Kusenov. Um he has he has not tried to bully anyone. He plays under control and has no penalty minutes in the first two games. Uh Dwarak has actually become less invisible lately. He says uh as he’s trying to use his body to stop offensive forays and to pin pucks along the board sometimes successfully. It helps that he plays with a steadier, more experienced Kenov and they do make a bigbodied pair. Uh his puck clearing attempts are a bit hit or miss, but he has managed to avoid catastrophe in the first two games. Talking about Jakob D’vorak, a guy who uh got his first taste of North American hockey last year, and this is kind of his first real AHL season. So, uh nice to see that uh he’s he’s looked a little more comfortable uh this year. Uh Eric Portillo according to Dawn has been pretty solid so far. Couple of goals he says that went in Friday night. That was the season opener were weird bizarre ricochets or off player swarms crashing the net. Hard for me to pin those on Portillo. He says the D did have a few breakdowns as well though not too many. Otherwise, Eric Portillo made some good saves. Looks to be physically sound which obviously is important for him coming off of that back surgery. He says that uh he just couldn’t stop the overtime goal on Friday. Sunday he said he would um was not faulted on either of the two goals he allowed as well. Uh so far he says Cohen Zemer and Jack Hughes have not addressed for a game. Says hopefully we will see Zemer sometime in the near future for the Ontario Rain. Again, that was Dawn on our Ontario Rain fan correspondent checking in from the San Fernando Valley and he’ll be checking in with us throughout the season and give us a little more insight into the Ontario rain more than just what I do in giving the basic knowledge that I am able to gather from just reading the stats and and whatnot. So, we appreciate Don for doing that all season for us. As far as the Ontario rain, uh, two more games coming up this weekend. Well, Friday, uh, the 17th, they’ll be hosting the Henderson Silver Knights at 7:00 p.m. faceoff time. And Sunday the 19th, they’re at home against the Colorado Eagles. That is a 300 p.m. Pacific time start time. So, four straight home games for the Ontario Rain to start the AHL season. And sounds like they’re off to a a decent start so far this year. Uh, I I am a little bit more intrigued with the rain this season because they appear to have uh, as you may have noticed from all the names that Don has been giving us, um, appear to have a bit more of a roster that is uh, prospect friendly, I guess you would say. you know, every team in the AHL has a handful of guys and and the the rain do too um that are, you know, AHL players, guys who have had their shot at making the NHL and it just isn’t going to be in the cards for them most likely. And so they’ve they’ve basically become career AHL players. It’s not a bad way to make a living if you can play hockey and do it for a little while. Um, but it seems like to me this year’s rain team, more prospe, more guys who actually have a decent shot of maybe making it in the NHL uh, in the not too distant future. So, a little bit more intriguing, a little bit more interesting for me and maybe you to keep track of the Ontario reign for this coming season. As far as the prospects for the Kings, the junior players, the US college hockey players, players in Europe, we’re going to check in on those guys as the young season underway for all those uh teams as well. We’ll do that next. You’re on locked in LA Kings, your team every day. Most people can’t name all their financial accounts or even what they’re worth, whether it’s 401ks, properties, or investments. And when you don’t have the full picture, you can end up leaving money on the table. That’s why there is Monarch Money. It is the all-in-one personal finance tool that brings your entire financial life together in one clean, easy to use interface on your laptop or phone. Monarch is built for people with busy lives. If you’ve been putting off organizing your finances, Monarch is here for you. You can link all your accounts in minutes, see clear data visuals, get smart categorization of your spending, and finally feel in control of your money even without touching a spreadsheet. You can maximize investments, increase your spending rate, review finances with your partner and or financial adviser while keeping a clear view of your financial health week to week and long term. Don’t let financial opportunity slip through the cracks. Use the code locked onnhl atmononey.com in your browser for half off your first year. That’s 50% off your first year at monarchmoney.com with the code locked on NHL. All right, I wanted to give you an uh early season check-in on all the Kings prospects uh that we have out there playing in various different levels. And we will start with the players playing in junior hockey. And we will start with uh the probably the number one prospect for the LA Kings and that is left winger Liam Greenree of the Windsor Spitfires. He’s only played in four games so far this season, but the Kings first round pick in 2024 has three goals and three assists for six points. His three goals have all come on special teams. Two power play goals and a short-handed goal. So, uh, good to know that. Look, we talked about it with Green Tree. He really should be playing in the AHL this year, but because of the stupid rules they have and his age, he has to either be on the Kings or go back to his junior team. So, I I think it would help him. And I I I’ll be honest, I don’t know for sure how much he’s played, at least on the penalty kill. I’m sure he’s played on the power play, but giving him an opportunity to grow and and be in different positions like on the penalty kill, uh certainly is something that they can try and do to benefit him by playing at a level that he’s basically proven everything that he can prove. But maybe playing him in different positions, giving him more responsibilities. He’s already the captain of the team. Maybe that helps him out a lot. Now, he is currently serving a three-game suspension for a cross check to the face in a game last week. He got a five-minute major in a game misconduct and that three-game suspension. So, he’s eligible to return to action coming up on October the 18th. And Liam Greenree is a guy who has a little bit of a nasty streak as well. The other big prospect for the LA Kings is of course goalender Carter Hart playing for the Owens Sound attack. and for the last couple years he’s been on a really bad team and he’s really had to struggle with his teammates not being able to uh play at his level. However, uh it appears that Owens Sound has turned things around at some either added some players or whatever the situation is, but um they’re actually off to a decent start. And Carter George was a guy he’d have decent stats considering the teams he was playing on. So it looks like and good for him so far he’s playing on a pretty good team. The the Kings second round pick in 2024 has played in five games. He’s got a 4-1 record. His goals against average is 2.76 and his save percentage is 913. So good for Carter George that uh after basically carrying a team on his back the last couple of years and they just squeaked into the playoffs last year that looks like he’s got a little more support there uh in Owens sound. So good for him. Uh let’s check in on the pair of London Knights defenseman that are Kings prospects of course Henry Brvich uh six games this season. The Kings first round pick in 2025 has three goals and two assists for five points. Got two power play goals on the season although he is a surprising minus three so far on the year. And then Jared Woolly who you know is supposed to be considered kind of a defensive defenseman. Six games this year for the sixth round pick for the Kings in 2024. He’s got four goals and three assists for seven points. So, not known as a goal scorer, but he’s a guy who the Kings drafted basically as kind of a prospect and he really has started to blossom and and looks like he is going to be an NHL player at some point. Uh some other guys, uh center Jimmy Lombardi plays for the Flint Firebirds, six games this season. He was a fourth round pick of the Kings in 2025. He’s got six assists in six games. Defenseman Will Sharp of the Colona Rockets has played in four games. He has three assists. He was a seventh round pick of the Kings in 2025. And center Yan Hovind for the Sunsbury Wolves. Uh, seven games this season. He was a sixth round pick in 2025. He’s got one goal. This is his first year playing junior hockey in North America. Uh, let’s check in on the Kings college prospects. Of course, leading that off is goalender Hampton Slinksky from Western Michigan, the defending national champions of college hockey. They are ranked number two in the nation so far this year. Only two games so far for Hampton. Uh the Kings fourth round pick in 2023 has a 1-1 record, a 3.58 goals against average an 806 save percentage very early on. Also, defenseman Kaden Harrington, University of Vermont. Two games for him. He’s got a goal. He was a Kings fourth round pick in 2025. Uh right-winger Ryan Connie, now at Boston College, transferring to that program, uh that the Eagles are ranked eighth in the nation. He’s played in three games so far. He’s got two goals. He was a sixth round pick of the Kings in 2023. And then we’ve got our trio of players playing for University of Denver. Uh you’ve got left-winger uh Christian Eper. Uh he is through two games. He has one assist. He was a third round pick of the Kings in 2025. You’ve got right-winger James Reer. Two games for him. He has an assist. He was a seventh round pick of the Kings in 2024. Then you’ve got Brendan McMorro. He’s a freshman for the Pioneers who are ranked fifth in the nation. Uh he has yet to appear in a game so far this season. And one other college player to tell you about, defenseman Jack Sparks for Clarkson University. Three games this season. He has no points. He was a Kings uh sixth round pick in 2022. And there are a couple European players to keep an eye on. One of them a goalender. Uh it is Peter Rempenan. He is playing in the Finnish league. He has appeared in nine games so far in their season, a record of 44-1, 2.58 goals against average, and a um 895 save percentage. He was a fifth round pick of the Kings in 2025. And also left winger Voytech Shiar playing in the Czech league. He’s appeared in 14 games so far this year with one goal and two assists. He was a second round pick of the Kings in 2025. So, a lot of names there uh for you. I’m sure some of them you’re very familiar with, maybe some of them not as familiar with, but we will do this probably once a month. Check in on um how the prospects are all doing in junior hockey and in college, US college hockey and and over a couple of guys over in Europe and just keep you updated on the names and how they’re doing and any news that we have to pass along involving these hopefully one time future kings uh coming up in the organization. All right, for you everydayers, those you listen to and watch Lockdown LA Kings every day. Coming up on our next show, Jesse Cohen is going to join us. He is the host of the LA Kings official podcast, the All the Kings Men podcast. He’s going to let us know what’s going on with him and uh we’ll get into it discussing the Kings through four games so far this season. Uh and then of course we have the Kings taking on the Penguins on Thursday. Uh we will have a game recap uh after that game and then of course our fan feedback show coming up at the end of the week as well before we get into the weekend. Uh if you would like to get an email for any reason for the feedback show or anything else we’ve talked about so far this week, the email address is locked on eddygmail.com eddie. You’re always welcome to post your thoughts. If you’re watching on YouTube in the comments section, we would love for you to stay connected with the show on social media x Twitter, Instagram, Tik Tok. We are at locked on LA Kings. And if you’re interested in some extra Kings coverage, we have something called LA Kings Extra. If you’re interested in information on that, send me an email. LA Kingsext [email protected]. I’m Eddie Garcia. Thank you for listening and watching Locked on LA Kings, part of the Locked On Network. Your team every day. Have a great rest of your day. We will talk to you next time. And as always, go Kings. Go.

We look at the LA Kings through the first four games of the season. Plus an early season check in on some possible future Kings. That and more on this edition of Locked on LA Kings.

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