PreSeason is Here, Hockey is Back!
- Updated: September 30, 2016
Welcome back ladies and gentlemen, hockey is finally here again! So it’s only been a few preseason games where we’ve seen more of the Ontario Reign players than we have Kings, but with roster openings and Marian Gaborik’s unfortunate injury at the World Cup keeping him out for the next 8 weeks, chances are those Reign players will play a few NHL minutes with the Kings this season.
If you’ve been keeping up with the World Cup (and if you haven’t Jeff Duarte has been for you) you’ve seen Drew Doughty log some ice time (not nearly as many as we’ll see him log this season I’m sure) with Team Canada, new Captain Anze Kopitar bring his team to the finals to meet the juggernaut Canada, and goalie Jonathan Quick do everything he can to keep Team USA in the mix (but to no avail). Jeff Carter’s injury that kept him out of the World Cup has kept him sidelined so far and Jake Muzzin joined Doughty on Team Canada but only played in one exhibition game and one first round robin game. So without our greatest veterans, what can we gleam from preseason so far?
Well Tyler Toffoli is already giving his agent some great leverage in his contract negotiations this season. He and Tanner Pearson combined for 2 of the 4 Kings goals in the home game played on Monday (it was a split squad, so half went to Arizona and the other half stayed here to play the other half of Arizona’s players.) Should Carter, who is skating at morning practices, return in time for opening night October 12th, That 70’s Line should prove to be just as potent as they were at times last season.
Teddy Purcell seems to be fitting back in quite nicely; he scored a goal and an assist Monday evening in Arizona. Wednesday night’s game had him on a line with Kyle Clifford and Nic Dowd, which produced some equally fine results, Dowd scoring a third of the Kings 6 goals against the Ducks. Dustin Brown looks to have changed little from last season, producing a goal and an assist with many more chances and a few fast breakaways that didn’t lead anywhere. (It did seem very strange to see him without the ‘C’ on his jersey.)
It’s preseason, so the fact that the Kings have already scored 13 goals in 3 games shouldn’t get anyone too excited about a scoring surge this regular season. Certain things are clicking – the hits are hard and frequent, defense is strong and reliable, and Corsi (for those advance stats people) is looking (unsustainably) high, particularly for Dowd. But other things that make regular fans cringe are still staples of the Kings game – high shot count with an unconvincing lead (or loss, as was the case in Arizona). A lackluster power play.
So who will crack the opening night roster? You’ve got the usual suspects to make up the 23 men. Greene. McNabb. Muzzin. Scuderi. Doughty. Kopitar. Clifford. Lewis. Brown. Martinez. Quick. Pearson. Nolan. Toffoli. King. Carter. You’ve got Shore and Andreoff who seemed to prove themselves to Sutter last season (though truth be told I’m not a huge fan of either.) Likely Budaj will join Quick between the pipes, but knowing how much Sutter rides Quick, he will get a lovely view from the bench of most games. Purcell will join the forwards on the bench. To my mind Dowd has proven himself to stay. Forbert or Gravel will take the defensive spot(s) remaining – the Kings have not been clear whether they’ll take 7 or 8 D. There’s still a few more preseason games to go before Frozen Fury to let Sutter see whatever it is he needs to to determine the roster. Who will we see in Vegas!?
Stay with us at Calisportsnews.com as we will keep you up-to-date on all things Los Angeles Kings and the rest of the LA sports teams! All Cali, all the time!
Related Posts
About Emily Redenbach
