TONIGHT’S MATCHUP: The preseason comes to an end tonight as the Kings host the Florida Panthers in their final friendly today in Quebec City.

HEAD TO HEAD: Similar to the Kings and Bruins on Thursday, the Kings and Panthers will meet tonight here in Quebec City in a rare preseason clash.

Last season, the Kings and Panthers each won at home, with Los Angeles posting a 1-0-1 record.

KINGS VITALS: Tonight marks the final game of the exhibition season as the Kings prepare to face Buffalo on opening night.

After David Rittich played Thursday’s game against Boston, Darcy Kuemper will start tonight against the Panthers. Kuemper has started twice so far in the exhibition season, most recently playing 60 minutes against Anaheim and recording a shutout. Overall, Kuemper has stopped 33 of the 35 shots he faced in 100 minutes of play this preseason.

The expected playing group, based on this morning’s skate, is shown below –

Laferriere – Kopitar – Kempe
Jeannot-Danault-Moore
Fiala – Byfield – Foegele
Lee-Turcotte-Lewis

Anderson-Spence
Gavrikov-Burroughs
Edmundson-Clarke

Kümper
Rittich

Jim Hiller noted yesterday that there will be “some changes,” but he wasn’t sure if everyone who didn’t play Thursday will play today against Florida.

That being said, this morning’s skate gives the impression that forward Trevor Lewis will be checking in for his final preseason game. The Kings don’t appear to be making any other changes tonight among the other participants on the trip who didn’t play against the Bruins.

“We talked this morning about whether we’re missing anything, whether we want to see other players on the starting line, because they’ve been pretty consistent throughout training camp,” Hiller said. Is there something we missed, do we want to change anyone, the D-pairs, all of those things? The consensus was we kind of like where we were and let’s just move on.”

There isn’t much time left for the kings to make a decision, nor is there much time left to do so. Anyone who is still fighting for the squad bubble has the chance to gather final impressions and then it starts. Mayor’s Manor reported that Andre Lee is likely to be added to the NHL roster and it appears that now there is probably just one decision left to make. More on this below.

FLORIDA VITALS: The Panthers arrived in Quebec City last night and hosted a morning skate after the Kings today at the Videotron Centre.

Tonight we expect the visitors to have a veteran-filled lineup, with many of their top players in attendance for tonight’s game in Quebec City, including players like Barkov and Tkachuk.

Notes –
Squad shakedown
“I think we have a pretty good idea, now we have a pretty good idea. I mean, it might change one or two people, one maybe, but we have a pretty good feel for it. Well, I think everyone’s had a pretty good run, a pretty fair run. The difference is, as I mentioned, our fourth line probably didn’t play as much (on Thursday) as it has at other times. The lineup featured fewer veterans.”

That was Jim Hiller talking about the decisions that need to be made regarding the final roster.

As Hiller suggested, the Kings have a good idea which player will be 23 on opening night. The Kings will have to reduce their goaltenders from three to two, leaving only two additional decisions to be made by the skaters.

The first decision to be made is alignment – Early in camp I was convinced the Kings would have eight defensemen. However, Drew Doughty was completely healthy. The Kings saw a group of eight on the blueline that they wanted to carry at the start of the season. That could still be the plan, but there’s definitely a greater chance the Kings can keep 14 forwards after injuries to Doughty and forward Arthur Kaliyev.

One note Hiller shared today is that Alex Turcotte will be the fourth-line center to start the season.

Hiller shared that he spoke with Turcotte today to discuss and define his role. For now, that task is to center the fourth line.

“I’m sure at some point he can see himself playing higher up the lineup, but right now, and he and I have talked about it, where are you – on the fourth center line,” Hiller said. (I asked him) “What’s your job?” He had to answer the question, I didn’t give him an answer, but I think he knew what the answer was and that’s where he is now. From there you just build your game and gain the trust of the coaches. We saw him play on the wing with Kopi and Q last year, so we saw he was capable of that and he has some of that in his game. That’s his role right now, so he has to be reliable and consistent in that role, and that’s not easy.”

Personally, I preferred seeing Turcotte in the middle. According to reports from his time in Ontario, he was the most effective center player and I liked his play in the middle. However, he is versatile and can play both positions. It looks like Turcotte would be the first name on this list if the Kings were to change things up at all and move anyone to the top 9, assuming he delivers what is expected of him playing on the fourth line .

During the camp so far, Turcotte has been as influential as he has been at any other camp during his time with the organization.

“I feel like it was my best camp so far for sure,” Turcotte said. “We’ve talked before about just playing with more confidence, more confidence in myself, I think that’s a big part of it. I’m feeling a lot more comfortable and it’s pretty early, early days, and I still have a lot of work to do and I’m getting better, but I think my mindset is in the right place. I’m really confident about my game and I think I’ll continue to improve it and be a better player every day.”

Among those in the bubble, I share my conversations with Caleb Jones and Jack Studnicka below.

As it stands today, it doesn’t look like either will be playing tonight, so their preseason work is complete. However, they are both still in the mix.

For Jones, he has primarily been an NHL player over the past few seasons. He hasn’t played a full season in the AHL since 2018-19, and other than 12 games last season with the Colorado Eagles, he hadn’t played in the league at all since 2019-20. It makes sense that Jones is with the NHL club. He is very experienced on both sides of the ice, having played on both the left and right side of the NHL throughout his career. This experience is good for a possible role as an additional defender.

He had the opportunity to earn a spot on the team here during training camp, and he’s learned throughout his career that you have to make the most of those opportunities when they arise.

“Any opportunity you get in this league, you can’t take it for granted,” Jones said. “I started learning it in the last few years. I was in the NHL, I wasn’t in the minors at all, but the older I get, the more I realize that you can’t just pass up these opportunities when you get them. If I get the chance to play, I won’t miss it.”

For Studnicka, this is a situation that he has been familiar with for some time.

“I’ve definitely been through this before, I’ve never really had a set spot before camp, so nothing new for me,” Studnicka said. “I just prepared intensively and that gave me the confidence to just play my game.”

Whether it was Vancouver, Boston or San Jose, Studnicka went through multiple training camps before understanding the importance of winning and earning his spot. It’s the mindset he tried to bring into camp here this fall.

Studnicka said he feels comfortable playing both center and wing. As with Jones, this doesn’t hurt his case. He has more than 100 games in the NHL and has experience in the NHL. Of particular note is his skating, particularly his ability to move the puck from zone to zone. The 4C job is currently unavailable, that falls to Alex Turcotte. But also think of Studnicka as an additional striker position.

Looking forward, the majority of today’s roster feels pretty comfortable with the club’s formation, with Lee being the only player who perhaps wouldn’t be considered a lock. From there it’s all about the final three spots on the NHL roster, and those will be determined primarily by players who won’t be playing tonight. Jones, Studnicka, Andreas Englund and Samuel Fagemo are the finalists to fill these roles. Decisions are imminent, if not final, and we will find out what the first 23 players look like in the coming days. There’s a potential LTIR situation with Kaliyev, Doughty, or both, but there’s no guarantee the Kings will choose that route. Lots of options depending on how the Kings play.

Tonight at 4pm Pacific from QC before we head to the real deal next week!