Los Angeles Kings

[Sudden Death]

From Kings Insider

There's good news for forward Trent Hunter, who signed a one-year contract with the Kings today. Hunter, coming off major knee surgery, came to camp on a pro-tryout agreement but has performed well and will be in the lineup again tonight.

bad news for Parse & Loktionov

[Sudden Death]

Sudden Death, what are your thoughts on Loktionov?

According to Kings Insider - Loktionov has been sent back to the AHL.

Andrei Loktionov has been assigned to Manchester of the AHL. As noted in a post a couple days ago, Loktionov essentially got caught in a numbers game. The Kings prefer him at center, but that position is already manned by Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards, Jarret Stoll and Trevor Lewis. That leaves the Kings with 15 healthy forwards, plus Colin Fraser. They will start the season with 13 or 14, depending on how many defensemen Terry Murray wants to carry at the start of the season.

[Sudden Death]

roster cuts (Kings Insider)

The Kings have announced three roster cuts, with defensemen Andrew Campbell and Thomas Hickey and forward Dwight King being assigned to Manchester. Campbell cleared waivers this morning.

That takes the Kings down to 27 bodies in training camp. Assuming that Colin Fraser and Jake Muzzin start the season on injured reserve, the Kings would need to make one more roster cut before opening night. The question is, will they keep two spare forwards or two spare defensemen?

FORWARDS (15)
Dustin Brown, Kyle Clifford, Colin Fraser, Simon Gagne, Trent Hunter, Anze Kopitar, Trevor Lewis, Ethan Moreau, Scott Parse, Dustin Penner, Mike Richards, Brad Richardson, Jarret Stoll, Kevin Westgarth, Justin Williams.

DEFENSEMEN (9)
Drew Doughty, Davis Drewiske, Matt Greene, Jack Johnson, Alec Martinez, Willie Mitchell, Jake Muzzin, Rob Scuderi, Slava Voynov.

GOALIES (3)
Jonathan Bernier, Jonathan Quick, Jeff Zatkoff.

[Sudden Death]

Kings Insider traveling with team on European trip. The team is practicing in Hamburg today.

There are a couple thousand fans in the arena to watch the Kings' open practice. Here’s how the lines look:

Penner-Kopitar-Williams
Gagne-Richards-Brown
Clifford-Lewis-Moreau
Richardson-Stoll-Hunter
Parse/Westgarth/Fraser

Mitchell-Doughty
Johnson-Scuderi
Martinez-Greene
Drewiske-Voynov

Quick
Bernier
Zatkoff

[Sudden Death]

Nothing official, but I saw this on Kings Insider

Murray indicated that Voynov more than likely will be headed to Manchester, but that a final decision hasn't been made. That's good news for Scott Parse

[Bobeez]

A few quick notes from the last preseason game against Hamburg yesterday:

- Bernier looked better than Quick

- Penner is hurt, some people say he was seen on crutches, but he took part in practice on monday

- Parse replaced him on the top line and played really well, Voynov on the other side had a bad game and is the obvious final cut

- Doughty still looked a bit lost and needed some time to feel comfortable, but improved as the game moved on

- Alec Martinez with the hell of a slapper and Murray said he expects such things from him, nice option for PP#2

- I expect big numbers from Kopitar, he was by far the most dominant player on ice

- Bailey is the best mascot in the world!

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Voynov on the other side had a bad game and is the obvious final cut

Voynov was sent to AHL

The Kings have assigned Slava Voynov to Manchester of the AHL and put Jake Muzzin on injured reserve. Colin Fraser will start the season as an injured non-roster player. That sets the opening-night roster at 24, including third goalie Jeff Zatkoff, who will go to the AHL after the first two games.

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from Kings Insider

Some notes from today’s practice…

– Dustin Penner is "80 percent," according to Terry Murray, but won't play tomorrow. Penner skated for 40 minutes today and remains day-to-day.

– Jonathan Quick will start tomorrow, but Murray would not commit to a starting goalie for Saturday.

– Murray said Drew Doughty would be able to play a full complement of minutes in all situations.

– The forwards will skate the way they practiced today
Gagne-Kopitar-Williams
Richardson-Richards-Brown
Parse-Stoll-Hunter
Clifford-Lewis-Moreau
Penner-Fraser-Westgarth

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Bernier in net today vs Sabres, plus Kevin Westgarth will replace Trent Hunter.

Other than the goalie change, the Kings will make only one other move, with Kevin Westgarth replacing Trent Hunter. Terry Murray said he wasn’t entirely pleased with Hunter’s game last night, which was the primary motivation for the change. As expected, Dustin Penner (lower-body injury) remains out.

[Sudden Death]

After splitting the two European games with Rangers & Sabres, Kings are back in North America.

Kings Insider has a practice update w/ line combos

Dustin Penner, who missed the first two games with a lower-body injury, skated and did drills for approximately 40 minutes, then left the ice for treatment. Afterward, Terry Murray said that was the plan for Penner going in, and that Penner is feeling better. It's not yet known whether Penner will be able to play Thursday in New Jersey. Here's how the Kings' forwards lined up, which is the same look they used in the season opener, with Trent Hunter back on the third line…

Gagne-Kopitar-Williams
Richardson-Richards-Brown
Parse-Stoll-Hunter
Clifford-Lewis-Moreau
Penner-Fraser-Westgarth

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Practice update via Kings Insider

Today's practice meant good news for Dustin Penner and not-so-good news for Scott Parse. Penner (lower-body injury) made it through an entire practice on a line with Mike Richards and Dustin Brown, while Brad Richardson moved back down to the third line with Jarret Stoll and Trent Hunter. That would put Parse in the fourth-line fold with Kyle Clifford, Trevor Lewis, Ethan Moreau and Kevin Westgarth. As expected, the first line of Simon Gagne, Anze Kopitar and Justin Williams remained together.

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Westgarth and Drewiske in tonight, Hunter and Martinez scratched

As hinted at yesterday, the Kings will make two lineup changes tonight. At wing, Kevin Westgarth replaces Trent Hunter, likely giving the Kings the same look they had against Buffalo. On defense, Davis Drewiske replaces Alec Martinez.

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With Doughty on IR, Jack Johnson moved up to 1st D pairing with Scuderi, and Slava Voynov was skating with Willie Mitchell in practice.

Penner left practice after 20 minutes, and it seems like Parse was taking his place afterward.

Gagne-Kopitar-Williams
Penner (Parse) -Richards-Brown
Richardson-Stoll-Moreau
Clifford-Lewis-Hunter
Parse-Fraser-Westgarth

Scuderi-Johnson
Mitchell-Voynov
Martinez-Greene
Drewiske

[Sudden Death]

Dustin Penner will play tonight after all

Also Voynov will see some PP time

Dustin Penner made it through today's morning skate without issue and is expected to play tonight against St. Louis. Penner indicated that there are inflammation issues with his knee but that a doctor's evaluation revealed nothing more serious.

As expected, Slava Voynov will make his NHL debut tonight and Terry Murray said Voynov will get power-play time as well. More notes and quotes to come.

[lektrix]

What's wrong with the Captain? Looks like he hasn't been much of a factor at all. Does he even hit or fight anymore?!?