EL SEGUNDO, CA — The Los Angeles Kings have gone from having one of the greatest prospect pools in the league to a skeleton of their former glory. In a season that is already being headlined by the end of an era, with their captain announcing his retirement at the conclusion of the 2025-26 season, there is also a stark reminder of the widening gap between prospects ready to contribute.

For reference, Corey Perry, the former Hart Trophy winner and a 40-year-old journeyman, despite feeling a residual connotation of being a ‘lifer’ in Anaheim, has been out for at least six to eight weeks following successful knee surgery. Like so many seasons, on a plethora of Kings teams and around the league alike, injuries open up opportunities.

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In this case, there’s a fourth line opportunity to get minutes for a franchise that can essentially blockaded or shipped off its once heralded prospect pipeline. The franchise has maintained its course towards the belief system that the team is in a contention window. Thus, it has shed prospects and also suffocated the ones who had remained, with the outliers being the ones so very close to the lowest digit available come draft day. Those types of players can help retool or rebuild a franchise towards greatness. Those players don’t get the final spots on a roster, aka the 13th forward. That spot still season will come down to a few players, with October seventh a couple of weeks away.

Samuel Helenius and Alex Turcotte seem to be roster locks for the upcoming season, while being flanked by newly acquired Joel Armia, the bottom six seems destined to be a heavy group, bolstered by a third line checking trio of Warren Foegele, Trevor Moore, and Phillip Danault. That leaves a very narrow margin of error for Akil Thomas and Liam Greentree.

Interestingly enough, both players represent stark differences in the directions once held by the franchise. Thomas, with his legendary gold medal-winning goal in 2020 for Team Canada in the under-20 World Juniors, is now the same age Adrian Kempe was when he broke out with 35 goals back in 2021-22. Kempe, entering the 2021-22 season at 25, had accumulated 307 regular-season games. Thomas, entering his 25-year-old season (will turn 26 in January), will have 32 to his name.

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Another year and another unrealistic situation for a player like Thomas to succeed. Due to his preseason play and overall camp, he has earned himself a deeper look and is likely propelled forward to showcase for his next team, whether it be the Kings or not. That fight for relevancy has caught the attention of Head Coach Jim Hiller during training camp and the preseason, “I thought Killer maybe played one of his best games I’ve seen him play. Akil Thomas, you know who im talking about. I was really happy for him. What a game.” Thomas, or ‘Killer,’ is getting some much deserved preseason praise, but to essentially become the 13th forward.

There’s plenty of smoke to the idea that Greentree, the 19-year-old and now brightest prospect in the recouping pipeline, could start his season in the NHL, get a conditioning stint in the AHL before the club options him back to the OHL. If this is the case, for Thomas, that would likely mean another year on his career suppression, as he is a UFA after this season, likely his last with the franchise.

The Kings in a realistic yet ruthless world make sense for the recent first-rounder to get up to speed as soon as possible. The franchise is starting to piece together what its core of the future is, but is currently missing significant firepower and skill to make the next jump. Thomas, at this rate, is not going to suddenly be the missing link at almost 26 years old and less than 40 NHL games to his belt. Once again, it looks like an LA prospect has danced around the fire of irrelevance. In most D+5 years for players, you are either a regular in the NHL or have completely moved on from that opportunity.

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So, while the Kings have yet to establish their future core, those running the club, their former pipeline has withered, boiled down to a select few who are forecasted not to be superstars, but good enough to keep the team relevant. Relevance will depend on whether the team can either find the right horses to run with their thoroughbreds or develop them to be weaponized. Right now, the team is behind the curve, and figures like Thomas represent a foretelling past of mismanaged prospects.