3 QUESTIONS FOR KINGS v DUCKS(Sep 27th)
Tonight is the fourth preseason game for the LA Kings on the 2025-26 Preseason schedule and third time in the preseason that the Kings will take on the Anaheim Ducks. They previously played and defeated the Ducks in Anaheim and Ontario. Today’s game is being played in Bakersfield, CA.
The Game roster is listed here.
With the knowledge of who will be available to play in Bakersfield today it leaves me asking three questions.
QUESTION ONE: Who will play minutes in goal?
So far the Kings have played Carter George, Anton Forsberg and Darcy Kuemper in net in the preseason. Isaiah Saville has served as the EBUG (emergency backup goaltender) in all three and will likely play that role again today as he was also listed in the Group C Non-Game Group today for practice.
The start is then down to Portillo or Copley and Jim Hiller has repeatedly stated that he relies on the goaltending coach and department to guide his decisions on who should play and for how long in each game.
So far the Kings have let the starting goaltender complete each preseason game they have played in.
QUESTION TWO: What will the forward lines look like and who will play center?
Phil Danault (1,216 faceoffs) is the only player in the Game Group who took more than 300 faceoffs for the Kings last season. Helenius took 278 (4th on the Kings) as the 4th line center for 50 games.
There has been official and unofficial speculation that Alex Laferriere could be shifted to center when needed. He took 97 faceoffs (7th on the Kings) but has almost exclusively played on the wing during his young NHL career.
Akil Thomas and Francesco Pinelli have also played at center and wing in their careers.
If the Kings continue the trend of playing veterans together it would be reasonable to expect Foegele-Danault-Moore skate together but after that the rest of the forward lineup could be any number of combinations.
This could also be Liam Greentree’s final preseason appearance. The 19 year old forward has been skating with the “B Group” for the last few days of camp. Greentree has been the captain for the Windsor Spitfires the past two seasons and the Spitfires are three games into their season (3-0) with two more games on the schedule this weekend.
The Kings have the option to keep Greentree on the roster to start the season or assign him back to Windsor and have his Entry Level Contract “slide” for another season. If the Kings should choose to keep Greentree on the roster to begin the season they lose the “slide” option after he appeared in his 10th NHL game.
QUESTION THREE: WHAT WILL THE DEFENSIVE PAIRINGS BE?
Clarke and Ceci are expected to make the Kings roster to begin the season, the rest of the defensemen on the game roster for tonight are battling for the available “healthy scratch” spots. Burroughs, Clarke, Ceci and Millar are all right handed shots while Joe Hicketts has played on the right side despite being a left shot defenseman.
You can watch the game on LAKings.com
For more information on HOW follow the link and stay tuned for updates from the LA Kings.
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