25.9. – Season preview – Expected lineup + new lineup, same approach and Spence’s chance

TONIGHT’S GAME: The Kings continue their 2024 preseason schedule with a trip to Las Vegas to face the Golden Knights, their second exhibition game of the week.

DIRECT COMPARISON: The Kings posted a 1-1-1 record against Vegas in the regular season last year, and tonight is the first game of the 2024 preseason against the Golden Knights. Of those expected to play tonight, forward Trevor Moore led the team with two goals in three games against Vegas last season.

KINGS VITALS: It looks like the Kings will be entering the desert tonight with a much more experienced lineup.

As for the goalies, Darcy Kuemper is expected to start between the posts. This would be Kuemper's first appearance with the Kings since being acquired from Washington in a trade over the summer. Kuemper is expected to pair with Carter George, who made his preseason NHL debut on Monday in Utah. George stopped all six shots fired at him in the third period and conceded a goal during the 3-on-3 overtime period.

With the group below, the Kings are expected to have a lot more experience tonight than they did in Utah on Monday. We won't see Anze Kopitar, but we will see Drew Doughty in his preseason debut, along with the entire potential top four of Mikey Anderson, Vladislav Gavrikov and Jordan Spence. Additionally, the entire midfield six forwards are expected to be in action, with the lines of Phillip Danault and Quinton Byfield all coming along.

All in all a much more experienced group, even if not the full complement of players we would expect on opening night. Today's playing group is listed below –

Striker (12) – Byfield, Danault, Fiala, Foegele, Gawdin, Jamsen, Jeannot, Laferriere, Lee, Madden, Moore, Turcotte

Defender (6) – Anderson, Burroughs, Doughty, Gavrikov, Spence, Woolley

Goalkeeper (2) – George, Kuemper

In this group, I expect to see the Jeannot/Danault/Moore and Fiala/Danault/Foegele lines in action. They have skated together every day of training camp so far and there is no reason to believe they won't play together again tonight. The bottom six are less clear, but it's another great opportunity for an Alex Turcotte to show his progress and for a player like Andre Lee to try for NHL appearances. Both have impressed during training camp and both are worth keeping an eye on.

In the background, the pairings seem clear – Doughty/Anderson, Gavrikov/Spence, Woolley/Burroughs. It will be Woolley's first NHL preseason game, making him the third member of the 2024 draft class to play in a game this fall.

VEGAS VITALS: The Golden Knights won their opening game of the preseason on Sunday with a 4-2 away victory against San Jose.

According to Sin Bin Vegas, here is the expected host lineup for tonight:

Here is the group of players on the ice during morning practice, presumably the ones who will play tonight.

Holtz-Hertl-Roy
Brisson-Quinney-Pearson
Dorofeev-Laczynski-Denisenko
Cataford-Sapovoliv-AstonReese

Theodore Pietragelo
The Hague-Hanifin
McNabb white cloud

Samsonov
Lindbom

— SinBin.vegas (@SinBinVegas) 25 September 2024

A decent number of veterans are in action for Vegas, including those who could be their NHL defense on day one. Up front is mostly a younger group, but forward Tomas Hertl is also in the first line. Also in action for Vegas is former Kings winger Tanner Pearson, who is at Golden Knights training camp on a paid leave of absence.

Notes –
New look, new line
Tonight is the first game for two newly formed lines of the LA Kings.

Today we dive into the debut of Tanner Jeannot in the LA Kings uniform, skating alongside Phillip Danault and Trevor Moore. Jeannot takes a different approach than Viktor Arvidsson, but he seems to fit the approach Danault and Moore bring to this line. Although Jeannot and Arvidsson are different players, neither Danault nor Moore feel that this changes the identity of their line.

Moore – I think our identity is hard work and making plays out of that hard work. I don't think we've been a 'fleeting line' anyway. I think it's a little different, (Jeannot) wants to get to the net a little more, which might allow us to do some things higher up the pitch, but we'll see. I think it's been good so far.

Danault – It's an adjustment but he's hungry and we're just going to work as hard as we can to play our game, that's not going to change. Everyone adapts and once you work, everyone shines. That's not going to change at all.”

Jeannot, for his part, is here to play his game.

He's scored 24 goals in a season before, so he's done that. Still, he's not the playmaker type that Arvidsson once was, but as Moore pointed out, Arvidsson was also a worker, and this change doesn't change the approach of the line as a whole.

“You can tell they have that chemistry, they always know where each other is,” Jeannot said. “I see them dancing around with the puck all the time, so I just try to be in a good spot and create space for them. They do that well on their own, but I just want to do my part. Be tough on the forecheck, maybe get a few more pucks in their hands and get them to the net, be that extra element that the other team has to worry about. They're super fun to play with.”

This is an important line for the Kings for several reasons.

Strength in the middle only works at this level when you have three lines. Danault brings the two-way game that allows him to shine in different roles. He has the team's leading scorer from last season on his wing and the addition of Jeannot as the third member of the line adds a different element.

I'm excited to see how they perform tonight.

Spen-sational
It's a great season for defenseman Jordan Spence.

Last season was a step forward for the young defenseman, but this season will require another. After the summer goes, the Kings are banking on Spence and Brandt Clarke making strides on the right side of defense and becoming not only NHL starters, but NHL performers. The Kings need these guys to play at that level, and both are capable of doing so.

“I was pretty happy with my season last year, but I think I can still reach another level,” Spence said. “I just want to be a complete player in the defensive zone, also in the offensive zone. I think I feel more confident this year, so I'm really excited to get going.”

It's encouraging to hear him talk about both sides of the ice because the Kings need that growth in both zones.

Offensively, Spence was the Kings' second-leading defender with 22 assists, but scored just two goals, his first on March 15. Spence has a good shot and is capable of more than two goals. He knows it. The Kings will also have to take over the defensive duties of Matt Roy, who has had challenging matches alongside Vladislav Gavrikov. Spence's offensive potential is greater, but defensively he is not yet at Roy's level.

He knows what Roy brought with him and is working to improve his own game to match it.

“At the end of the day, everyone wants to win and I just want to be the player that I am and show that on the ice, be good in all zones,” Spence said. “Royzie is a great player, so for me, I just need to step up my game, play well on defense like he did last season and obviously help out in the ozone zone and try to contribute as much as I can.”

During the first five days of camp and also in today's game, Spence will partner with veteran Vladislav Gavrikov.

Gavrikov has experience and is more defensively minded, but offers a two-way game and shines in the neutral zone with an active defensive stick. He can also move pucks and a Gavrikov/Spence pairing looks more like a two-way duo. It's early days and tonight will be the first time we see this pair against non-internal competition, but Spence is optimistic about the partnership.

“It's been great. I think last year I played with him a couple of times and we played really well together,” Spence added. “Right now we're just trying to build more chemistry, talk a lot on the ice, communicate, but also last year we talked a lot off the ice. I think we're really good friends, so I think on the ice we just need to keep going, keep playing well together, communicate and I think good things will happen.”

Kings and Golden Knights tonight at 7 p.m. The game is on ESPN LA, AM 710 and the NHL Network with the Vegas broadcast. I'll be in Vegas for my preseason debut and will be following the game with full coverage!