Day 5 Notes – Day 5 Camp Update – Zuccarello Latest, Perry Update, Lines/Pairs Change + Kings Reduce Camp Roster

Training Camp, Day 5, is in the books.

Lots to discuss from today.

First things first, the Kings have announced a reduction to their training camp roster following today’s practices. As noted this morning, this is unsurprising. The schedule always pointed towards today as being the first cutdown day of the fall. The Kings designed camp specifically to give players three scrimmage opportunities to impress the coaching staff. For those who aren’t firmly with the NHL group, it was a chance to standout and perhaps showcase themselves for additional opportunities in preseason games.

Those chances are now in the books.

With AHL training camp opening tomorrow, the Kings condensed their training camp roster by 21, with several players released expected to be on the ice tomorrow in an Ontario Reign sweater.

Here’s a summer of the transactions made this afternoon –

The following players have been returned to their respective junior teams:
Jan Chovan – F (Sudbury, OHL)
Adam Goljer – F (Kingston, OHL)
Jimmy Lombardi – F (Flint, OHL)
Giorgos Pantelas – D (Penticton, WHL)
Lucas Ambrosio – D (Erie, OHL)

The following players have been loaned to the Ontario Reign, the Kings’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate:
Vojtěch Čihař – F
Kaleb Lawrence – F
Grant Slukynsky – F
Henry Brzustewicz – D
Carter George – G
Hampton Slukynsky – G

The following players have been released from their PTO /ATOs and will report to Ontario:
Jacob Doty – F
Brendan Gorman – F
Jack Hughes – F
Kenta Isogai – F
Ryan O’Hara – F
Michael Mastrodomenico – D
Nate Corbet – D
Jack Millar – D
Cameron Supryka – D
Owen Flores – G

Current training camp roster is available HERE.

Would like to make mention of Liam Lefebvre here, the Kings’ second-round pick in 2026. Lefebvre was noticeable in San Jose at the Rookie Faceoff. He stepped up and fought a 7-foot-1 opponent in Game 1 and scored two goals from dirty areas in Game 2. That’s how you make an impression. As such, I’d expect him to get at least one preseason game over the next 48 hours. Good for him.

For the group remaining as a whole, the focus shifts to a pair of exhibition contests over the next two days. The Kings host the Utah Mammoth tomorrow evening at Crypto.com Arena before they head to Anaheim the following night to visit the Ducks. From what we’ve already heard, expect tomorrow to be the preseason debuts for players like Artemi Panarin, Adrian Kempe and Quinton Byfield. All three figure to factor in on the power play and Peter Laviolette specifically wants to see his top power-play unit together in two preseason games. That will come tomorrow and Saturday, the two games in Los Angeles.

With new CBA rules restricting veteran players to two preseason games, there’s only so much that can be done there. The Kings will use their top-end guys in the home games and get two opportunities to see things like power-play units in action. For a team that finished among the NHL’s bottom-five clubs last season, that’s important. There has been a ton of emphasis on special teams over the summer, as a new coaching staff looks to revamp things in that area. Improve special teams are an easy way to see the point total improving. First glimpse tomorrow at what is to come. Excited to share a conversation with Assistant Coach Ray Whitney later this week where we dove into the power play in a bit more depth.

As for today’s practice, here’s how the Kings lined up, with Group A –

Few notes here.

– Forward Corey Perry did not practice today due to personal reasons, per Head Coach Peter Laviolette. Perry “possibly” could miss a couple of days due to the same matter.

– On Mats Zuccarello, he’s kind of status quo.

He was on the ice again in a red, non-contact jersey. He certainly went hard in drills and didn’t seem to be shying away. But it’s one thing to do that in red and another to do it in a full-contact capacity.

“At some points, we’d like to see him out of that jersey, but I think erring on the side of caution, especially at this time of the year, is a good thing. I can’t give you an exact timetable on what it exactly looks like. I think once he gets the confidence to get in and get into those battles a little bit more, I think that would be a positive step and a positive sign. We’ll make decisions from there.”

As Laviolette later added, Zuccarello isn’t “hiding” out there. He participated in just about every drill that I saw and was going at full speed, just sans full contact. He feels close and there’s nothing to suggest he isn’t on track for opening night next week, as Ken Holland felt he would be. Will update if that changes.

– The Kings changed their defensive pairings today. Brandt Clarke partnered Mikey Anderson while Drew Doughty skated with Joel Edmundson.

The Anderson/Clarke pairing is one that I was hopeful to see during camp. I liked Doughty with Brian Dumoulin last season but I can see him with Edmundson as well. Is this a regular thing, remains to be seen. The Kings got a look with Adrian Kempe at center on Friday but moved him back to the wing today. It’s training camp and the coaches are clearly looking to try things out. I think these pairs could be successful for the Kings, but it’s one day. Let’s see what tomorrow night’s lineup looks like.

“I can’t say that it’s in pen and it’s there for the year,” Laviolette said of his pairings. “[On Days 1 and 2], it was the same as last year and as we move through camp, it could possibly be different. It might be different in exhibition games.”

– The Kings added two players to Group A today – Jared Woolley and Andre Lee.

Laviolette was complimentary off Lee after the Empire Classic on Saturday, praising his physicality, calling him noticeable in that game.

Woolley was a bit more under the radar but I thought he had a really good night in Ontario. That he had a chance today to skate with the main group makes me think that others agree. Good on him. The depth chart is pretty deep on the blueline and Woolley more likely than not is slotted for the AHL. But not everyone got that chance. Says a lot about Woolley that he did.

“He’s been noticeable on the ice, his size, his presence, his toughness,” Laviolette said. “His skating’s been good, he’s moved the puck okay. It was an opportunity just to put him in and see what he did today in practice.”

– The Kings put a lot of time on the man advantage today. Here are the units they used –

PP1: Clarke, Panarin, Kempe, Zuccarello, Byfield
PP2: Doughty, Haula, Laferriere, Turcotte, Moore

Today’s practice was power-play focused. Those on the other side, killing the penalties, were simply the players not on the power play. Laviolette said that the Kings will have a day later in the week dedicated to the penalty kill as well, where the PK units are together and the PP units are more scattered. When you have players who play on both sides of the puck, it’s hard to get to both in one session.

“We’re going to find a day where the power-play units won’t necessarily be the power-play units and we’ll take all the guys that are on the PP and try to give them some PK work,” Laviolette said. “It’s a difficult task trying to manage both, with those players, and get that accomplished in a day.”

More to come on the power play later this week, including an interview with Kings Assistant Coach Ray Whitney, who will oversee that unit.