In the (now) 31 NHL cities, things are heating up on the ice as training camp opens next week.
But before the vets report, Kings prospects will be taking part in rookie camp, highlighted by a pair of rookie games against the Vegas Golden Knights' youngsters.
Both match-ups will take place at Toyota Sports Center and be streamed on LAKings.com (September 12 at 5 PM PST, followed by a 1 PM PST game the next day). Jon Rosen has all the details, including LA's roster:
Some history will be made in El Segundo next week. Led by ex-Wild prospect Alex Tuch and 2017 first-round picks Cody Glass and Nick Suzuki, this will be the expansion franchise's first on-ice competition against another NHL organization.
Los Angeles will be competing without their 2017 first-round pick Gabriel Vilardi (back sprain) and speedy winger Austin Wagner (recovering from shoulder surgery).
***
About a month ago, prospects guru Corey Pronman ranked LA's farm system as 17th in the league. Of course, Vilardi, his ninth-best prospect in the NHL, is a big part of that. Here is a sampling of Pronman's thoughts about the rest of the team's top-10 prospects:
1) Gabriel Vilardi: "His skill is legitimately at the top level, as [is] his ability to maintain possession...can make tough distributions seem easy...Vilardi's skating is an issue, with a below-average top gear..."
2) Kale Clague: "Makes good reads at both ends of the rink. He doesn't take over a game, but he's always noticeable."
3) Adrian Kempe: "There is a question of how great a playmaker he is, and whether he can create chances at an NHL pace."
4) Markus Phillips: "He isn't blazing fast, but he has an easy stride and skates well in all directions."
5) Mikey Anderson: "Defensively, he's a rock, with great gap control, good reads...I'd like to see a more explosive gear in his skating..."
6) Paul LaDue: "He won't blow anyone away with his skill, but can be an effective two-way defenseman."
7) Jaret Anderson-Dolan: "His hands are slightly above-average, but he makes plays because he's quick."
8) Spencer Watson: "His off-the-puck game hasn't shown a ton of progression, nor has he gotten much quicker, since his draft season."
9) Mike Amadio: "He win a lot of battles...Amadio has fine hands and can make some plays, but his speed isn't ideal."
10) Austin Wagner: "He's not much of an east-west skill player, but he flies through the neutral zone, attacks the net and is a quality penalty killer..."
Pronman wrote this series of articles for ESPN. He's now part of The Athletic, which is very much worth the subscription price. Support quality sports writing!
***
++++I AM CURRENTLY LOOKING FOR ADVERTISERS! If you, or anyone you know would be interested in placing an ad here at HockeyBuzz, then send me a PM!++++