3 QUESTIONS FOR THE EMPIRE CLASSIC
Today is the first preseason game for the LA Kings on the 2025-26 Preseason schedule. They take on the Anaheim Ducks in Ontario at 3pm.
Since the team has made no cuts to the Training Camp roster as of today, the players remain separated into three groups with Group A designated as the “Game Group”.
With the knowledge of who will be available to play in Ontario this afternoon it leaves me asking three questions.
QUESTION ONE: Who will play minutes in goal?
We heard from Jim Hiller on Friday that Carter George would play in the game but we don’t know if he’ll play the entire 60 minutes or if he will split time with Copley and Saville. Copley has played 53 games for the Reign over the past few seasons and Saville has 40 games of AHL experience in his career.
The fact that they selected 3 goalies could be an indication that they plan to use one for each period or it could be a coincidence.
QUESTION TWO: Will we see the same forward lines in the game that we’ve seen in Training Camp through the first three days?
If the lines stay consistent from camp then we can expect to see
Malott/Turcotte/Armia
Lee/Helenius/Thomas
but with Fiala not joining the Game Group I have no idea who to expect alongside Byfield and Laferriere.
QUESTION THREE: What will the Defensive pairs be?
The Kings have selected seven defenseman to be available for the Empire Classic. If we see the same pairs we’ve seen in training camp so far we can expect to see Moverare and Burroughs as a tandem but after that it gets questionable. Henry Brzustewicz is in the game group as is Brandt Clarke but neither of their regular partners through three days of camp are going to Ontario today.
Brzustewicz and Wooley both play for the London Knights of the OHL and are friends so they could conceivably be a pair but they started as a pair during the Rookie Faceoff games in Irvine before being split up in the third period of the first game.
The other two defenseman available are Jakub Dvořák and Jack Millar both of whom played in games for the Ontario Reign during the 2024-25 AHL season, 46 and 62 games respectively.
BONUS QUESTION: HOW DOES THE PRESEASON VETERAN RULE IMPACT LINEUP DECISIONS?
The NHL “Preseason Veteran Rule” (15.4 [c]) mandates that each team must dress a minimum of eight “veterans” for every exhibition game. A “veteran” is defined as a player who has played 30+ NHL games the previous season, a skater who has accumulated 100+ career NHL games, or a player who was a first-round pick in the most recent NHL Entry Draft.
The Kings veterans for the Empire Classic are
Copley, Laferriere, Byfield, Armia, Turcotte, Helenius, Moverare, Burroughs, and Brzustewicz (1st round pick in most recent entry draft)
That’s nine players BUT the Kings have selected three goaltenders and seven defenseman for the Empire Classic. It is my understanding (perhaps incorrectly) that the 20 players selected to appear in the game are the only ones considered “dressed” meaning the additional three “healthy scratch” players are not “dressed”.
THEREFORE… the Kings COULD opt to make George and Saville the “dressed” goaltenders, leaving Copley as a EBUG (emergency back-up) option without violating the Veteran Preseason Rule.
But that’s all speculation on my part and makes me deeply uncomfortable. Either way… we’ll know soon enough.
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.
