5 Tournament Takeaways From 2025 Rookie Faceoff

Rookie Faceoff is in the books!

Rookie Camp isn't quite over, with practices tomorrow and Wednesday, but Sunday's victory over Anaheim was the last game the Kings rookies will play together as a group. The Kings finished the weekend with a 1-1 record, defeating the Ducks after falling to San Jose on Saturday in the tournament opener. There were definitely ups and downs this weekend. This article will focus on more of the former. It's a rookie tournament, after two team practices, and I don't see a ton of reason to shade anyone for that. Five standout notes below from the two games in Anaheim.

Agent Carter
That Carter George fella can play.

George only featured in one of the two games, so yeah, it’s maybe a little bit strange to list him up at the top here. But what a game it was. 38 shots faced, 37 saves. George was everything he was advertised to be in that start and it carried over from his strong start to the preseason in the OHL with Owen Sound. Between 90 minutes of OHL preseason action and 60 minutes at the Rookie Faceoff, George has stopped 84 of the 86 shots he’s faced. That’s a .977 save percentage.

What I really liked about George was something that Eric Stephens from The Athletic and I were talking about during the game. Sure, dazzling saves and there certainly were highlight-reel moments yesterday. But George made several difficult saves look routine with the way he anticipates plays and the way he’s able to track the puck. Just because a shot hits the Kings logo on the front of the jersey doesn’t mean it was a simple save. Sometimes, saves that look simple appear that way because of a goaltender who anticipated the play well. Saw that from George quite a bit this weekend. Very impressive.

What’s next for George will likely be limited opportunities during NHL training camp, but opportunities nonetheless. George played two periods in the preseason last year, both in relief, and with four goalies on NHL contracts in front of him, he could be in a similar boat here this fall. Still, he’s already impressed. While he’s coming into camp to make a statement, his options are somewhat limited with where he can play this season. Should he return to the OHL as expected, George will be one of the league’s top goaltenders once again, with another crack at the World Juniors on the horizon. It’s September 15, so it couldn’t be much earlier days, but George has done everything he possibly could have to this point to improve his stock.

Class of 2025 Impressions
Henry Brzustewicz also looked to be as advertised this weekend. He’s got a little bit of everything in his game. He moves pucks very crisply and looked very comfortable running a power play. He jumped up into the play at times and he’s clearly comfortable activating offensively. He’s got good size and didn’t seem uncomfortable defending, even if there's work there longer term. I also really liked how he stepped up for Liam Greentree, after Greentree was hit from behind into the boards in Game 1 versus San Jose. Those two – Greentree and Brzustewicz – had a dust up in the OHL last season and Greentree laughed that it seems to be behind them now. Brzustewicz spoke about a culture of standing up for teammates in London in the OHL. I really liked how he spoke about that moment.

All in all Brzustewicz was one of the players in the brightest spotlight this weekend. I thought he met the challenge.

Two other 2025 draft picks also participated this weekend and I thought Jan Chovan and Jimmy Lombardi both showed well of themselves. They are actually the kinds of players who I feel typically do not impress in these types of tournaments. 18-year-old rookies, I have often found, come in with the hype but rarely stand out in these types of tournaments. There are much older players, with more experience, and these games are typically a step up in pace and competition from where they played last season.

Those things might be true for Lombardi and Chovan but I noticed both. Chovan had a terrific assist against San Jose in Game 1. Protected the puck, delayed his pass and set up defenseman Parker Berge for a one-timer goal. Chovan looked composed and perhaps that’s because he’s played up in age with the Slovakian National Team.

For Lombardi, I didn’t see the same type of composure but not in a bad way. He looked to have a ton of energy, skated well and was very comfortable with the puck on his stick. Almost twitchy at times. I don’t know if this is fair, but maybe a little bit of Blake Lizotte in there. Smaller player who will have to get his hands dirty despite his size to make it up in levels. Saw some of those things in his game. Likely a long development path for Lombardi, but a good showing.

Make It Reign
Want to highlight two players who will likely make their professional debuts this season with the Ontario Reign who I liked – Jared Wright and Kenny Connors.

I see Wright as a very high-floor type of player. What I mean by that is the way he plays the game, I think, will translate very quickly and effectively to the professional ranks. He stepped right into the Ontario Reign lineup at the end of last season and was used in both playoff games against San Jose, quickly earning trust from now Boston Bruins Head Coach Marco Sturm. He’s already an AHL player and his NHL path is one that he shouldn’t need to change a ton to hit. How much upside is there, say offensively? Not sure that’s every really been his game. But Wright can absolutely fly and he uses that speed to hunt pucks and forecheck. He was a menace chasing players down in the offensive end, creating chaos. Thought he showed out very, very well in both games.

Connors naturally had the hat trick in Game 2 and that makes headlines. But he made a bunch of plays that stood out for me. You ever watch a game, see a player make a little play that doesn’t lead to a goal or an assist, but just moves the needle positively for the Kings. Then you ask, who made that play? I found myself answering that question a lot with the name Kenny Connors. Thought he did a lot of good things. Professional hockey will definitely be a step up in competition for him and I’m excited to see how he makes the jump.

Strides Forward
Two highly-touted Kings prospects who I thought showed improvement from Game 1 to Game 2 were Liam Greentree and Jared Woolley.

Koehn Ziemmer’s game-opening goal in the second period of Game 2 showcased Greentree’s playmaking abilities.

He had Kenny Connors on a simple pass which would have likely resulted in a dump and forecheck situation. Not a bad play by anyn means, but Greentree had the vision off the wall to see Ziemmer skating incisively between the Anaheim defensemen and made a tape-to-tape pass that allowed Ziemmer to gain a step over the blueline. He did well to bury for the goal.

Different type of play here, but I liked how decisively Greentree made this read. The assist on Ziemmer’s goal required patience and vision. This one required instinct and decisiveness. Greentree took a pass from Aatu Jamsen and fed Connors in one motion for a goal from the slot. Quick decision, worked in his favor. Liked what I saw from Greentree in that Sunday game against Anaheim for sure.

For Woolley, he definitely acquitted himself very well in the second game against Anaheim. Saw a lot more of the player he can be with his defensive play, his physicality and his ability to move pucks quickly and effectively. He's not a puck mover in the traditional sense, but he's not your big lug, 6-5 defenseman who can't play. Woolley can play and he can move the puck. Woolley is the kind of player who sometimes fades in at these types of events, or perhaps you only notice him either negatively or in a fight. These are not structured games and he’s a defense-first defenseman. It’s easier to positively notice say Otto Salin – who moved pucks well in my opinion – than it is to notice Woolley. Andrew Lord seemed to agree that we saw more of the true Woolley in Game 2. Looking forward to seeing him in a preseason game over the next couple weeks.

Invader Ziem
The LA Kings played in two games and forward Koehn Ziemmer scored the first goal in both games.

For a guy who was one of the best goalscorers in the WHL over the last four seasons, that right there is good. I liked his goal on Sunday against Anaheim. He found the soft area of the ice and after he took the pass from Greentree, he took a couple of hard strides to get himself into an area where he could beat the goaltender clean and he did exactly that, in a 1-on-1 setting. Shooter and goaltender. Shooter won.

Ziemmer definitely has Top-9 NHL upside and should be able to score at that level but can he bring the other things along with it that will be required to be an NHL regular? I liked his intensity and the way he skated. He isn’t a blazer but I thought he skated angry, if that that makes sense. Skated like he wanted to make things happen. This will be a big season for him. He wanted to play professionally last year but the Kings felt his development was better served in the WHL. Now he’ll be a professional player, likely with the Ontario Reign. If he can continue to grow and develop his game, with good scoring instincts and good size, he's a prospect to watch this season for sure.