Spent Friday at the Toyota Sports Center in El Segundo watching the Kings camp, so I thought I’d offer some thoughts and analysis on what I saw there.
First off, the Kings returned goaltender Linden Rowat to Regina of the WHL. Didn’t see him in uniform there so I presumed this is what had happened and confirmed it when I got back home last night.
Kings skated in two groups. Most of the heavies skated in the first group, which was run by head coach Terry Murray and assistants Mark Hardy and Jamie Kompon. Standouts amongst the veterans:
Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown: These two seem to have ESP to help them communicate on the ice. Both knew where each other was at all time during drills and did a great job finishing each other passes. It’s no wonder these guys are 2/3 of the top line.
Denis Gauthier: I wasn’t expecting much of Gauthier but he has a mean streak and is willing to hit anything that moves. If there was a hard hit made on Friday, chances are that Gauthier was involved. Does seem to take some unnecessary risks at times but dud make some outstanding plays as a result of this.
Matt Greene: Wasn’t hammering people like Gauthier was but was playing the body well and his long reach lends itself well to pokechecking. Laid Kopitar out as he was trying to cross over the middle on one drill and got a big smile from Terry Murray for it.
Jaret Stoll: As is the word on him, he has an absolute cannon of a shot. Was doing faceoff drills against a couple of other centers and was absolutely dominant. Seems to see the ice well.
Jack Johnson: Has definitely bulked up a LOT in the offseason. Wasn’t playing the body much in practice but he seemed to be taking care of the puck well and his passing was excellent on the breakout. He was paired with Gauthier for a lot of the morning.
Michal Handzus: Looks extremely healthy and really did look like he was out to prove himself. More Speed than I remembered him having.
Standouts among the youngsters:
Oscar Moller: Was on the top line with Kopitar and Brown on Friday and didn’t seem to miss a beat. If I was Patrick O’ Sullivan I’d be ready to sign and get my butt to camp, a couple of these kids are making him look expendable.
Wayne Simmonds: Really impressed with this kid. Was all over the ice and has lots of hustle. Finished more often than not when he got the puck near the net. May need to get a little bigger before he’s ready for the big time but he has the skillset to be a contributing player if not a very good player in the NHL. On one drill he skated around Drew Bagnall like he was standing still, absolutely undressed him. I like this kid a lot.
Matt Moulson/Teddy Purcell/Brian Boyle: I’ll put them all in one category because I had the same opinion of all 3 of them. These kids are ready to jump into the NHL and contribute. They didn’t stand out like, say Kopitar and Brown, but they didn’t look like rookies out there either. They had Boyle playing the wing on a line with Derek Arstrong and Kevin Westgarth and he looked pretty good there. I’m of the opinion that he might be better suited to play the wing with his size.
Drew Doughty: Worth all the hype. Looked very solid defensively and his puck handling and skating skills are outstanding. During special teams drills he was on the first Power Play unit with Stoll on the point and he created a ton of opportunities. Looked 100% better in any category than Pressing did. Kid is special. No way he doesn’t make the team.
Peter Harrold: Looked good on the second PP unit. Seems to second guess himself in certain defensive situations but didn’t make any glaring mistakes.
Kevin Westgarth: Stood out for the wrong reasons. Absolutely useless. Couldn’t hit the side of a barn door with his shot and he is slow. I kept wondering why the hell he was even in camp. Don’t we already have an enforcer? Waste of space on the ice.
And the goalies (Jonathan Bernier is still out nursing a sore hip):
Jason LaBarbera: Looked pretty good I thought overall. Still not doing a great job controlling rebounds which has always been a problem for him, and his lateral movement is still an issue in my mind. If he didn’t have to move he was unbeatable but if forced to move laterally he is as good as dead. Needs to find a way to get stronger pushes when moving side to side. During drills when he had to share the net with Quick this was really obvious, the difference was night and day. Wasn’t handling the puck much on dump ins during drills.
Erik Ersberg: Also looked pretty solid. Nothing in his skillset will make your jaw drop but he stops the pucks he should stop and doesn’t give up rebounds. Pucks stick to him like he’s made of velcro. During breakout drills he handled the puck pretty well. So calm and composed you almost wonder if he has a pulse. Not as calm as Bernier but moreso than the other guys.
Jonathan Quick: Looked fantastic. Is the quickest goalie in camp (pun intended) and moves with the most fluidity. Rebound control is better than LaBarbera but not on par with Ersberg, the difference between Quick and LaBarbera is 1. Quick’s lateral movement is fast and fluid and 2. Quick is extremely athletic and in cases where he gave up rebounds he was able to make second saves. Also handled the puck better than the incumbents I thought. Seems to be playing with a lot of confidence. Only criticism I have of Quick is that he uses a bit of wasted motion. His movement, while very smooth isn’t the most efficient sometimes. If he continues to look this good the Kings will have a difficult decision on their hands soon.
Coach Terry Murray runs a pretty intense practice and focused a lot of defense and defensive play. Even if this defensive group is young, Murray and Mark Hardy will have them playing hard on a nightly basis. As you would expect, most of the veterans were pretty loose and the kids decidedly more nervous, with the exception of Doughty who was laughing it up with the vets pretty often.
Nobody who skated in the second group struck me as very impressive, save Matt Ellis who has some serious wheels. Marty Murray, a career minor leaguer, looked like Gretzky against most of these kids. Scott Parse looked completely uninspired as did Drewiske and Josh Kidd. Piskula was the best of the second group defensemen. As far as standing out for the wrong reasons, Paul Crosty is another one of those guys who makes me scratch my head a bit. He is slow and clumsy on skates and looks like he would struggle in upper division men’s league games, I’d venture to say he flat out doesn’t look like he belongs on the same surface even with a group of kids who don’t stand a chance in hell of making the NHL this season.
With that said about the forwards, Daniel Taylor was the most impressive of the goalies in the second group but even he was getting torched consistently. It seemed like every time Marty Murray went in on any of the 3 goalies he absolutely smoked them. When you then consider that the affore mentioned Murray is a career minor leaguer, that kind of puts things in perspective. Jeff Zatkoff looked great on the first day of development camp back in July and has looked terrible since then. His body language on the ice tells me that he knows this as well. He looks almost discouraged after the first couple get by him. He’s a prospect I had high hopes for and hopefully he can figure out how to get his game in the next gear. Right now he seems to have punched himself a ticket to the ECHL for this season. The kid Martin Jones from Calgary of the WHL, a non contract invitee looks somewhat promising. He moves around well and his size makes him tough to beat on a straight shot for the most part, but he needs to work on his body control. Jones I thought did a pretty good job of eating up rebounds. All in all, the second group are guys that will be in the AHL at best this season with the exception of Ellis who I think makes a good 4th line guy in LA.
Didn’t notice Raitis Ivanans or Brad Richardson on the ice. Doesn’t mean they weren’t there, but they weren’t noticeable in a good or bad way. One criticism I have of the Kings this time around in camp as opposed to development camp in July, none of the players had numbered jerseys. Some of the guys were hard to identify with just the numbers on their helmets. I love that camp is open to the public but it would certainly be more fan and media friendly if the players had numbered jerseys. Just a little complaint.
I took a few photos, some turned out well and other not so much. If you’d like to check them out you can do so HERE.
Puck drops on Frozen Fury 11 in Las Vegas against the Colorado Avalanche in about 40 minutes. I’ll have the post game report shortly after the game ends.
-JS
Jeremy Smith