The Los Angeles Kings have locked in the dates for rookie camp and this fall’s Rookie Faceoff, and the setup gives their younger players a bigger stage than usual.
Rookie camp begins Friday, Sept. 11 with an open, full-team practice at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo, CA. From there, the Kings move into three Rookie Faceoff games in the Bay Area, starting Sept. 12 against the San Jose Sharks at Tech CU Arena.
The rest of the slate is packed tightly: the Kings play the Anaheim Ducks on Sunday, Sept. 13, take an off day on Sept. 14, then close things out Tuesday, Sept. 15 against the Utah Mammoth.
LA Kings 2026 Rookie Faceoff schedule
Sept. 11: Practice - 11:45 a.m. (Toyota Sports Performance Center)
Sept. 12: vs. San Jose Sharks - 5:00 p.m. (Tech CU Arena)
Sept. 13: vs. Anaheim Ducks - 3:00 p.m. (Tech CU Arena)
Sept. 14: Off day
Sept. 15: vs. Utah Mammoth - 1:00 p.m. (Tech CU Arena)
The timing matters here. With a shortened four-game preseason schedule, rookie camp and the open practice may carry extra weight for the Kings’ younger group. There are fewer chances this fall to grab reps, show pace, and earn ice time with the NHL club, which makes the Rookie Faceoff especially important for a lot of these players.
That should put plenty of attention on the 27-player rookie camp roster, which includes several picks from the 2026 draft class and more than a dozen players back from last year’s camp.
Up front, Jared Wright, Kenny Connors, and Vojtech Cihar headline the group. Wright and Connors are among the forwards with real chances to push for NHL jobs in training camp and preseason, and both already made their NHL debut for the Kings this past regular season.
On the back end, the Kings bring a strong blue line group into camp. Former first-round pick Henry Brzustewicz and Jared Woolley both had standout seasons in the OHL with the London Knights, and they also played together as a defensive pairing in London this year.
The 2026 draft class is represented by forward Liam Lefebvre and defenseman Adam Goljer, the Kings’ two second-round picks, along with goalie Yegor Rybkin and defensemen Giorgos Pantelas and Lucas Ambrosio. One prominent absence is first-round pick Elton Hermansson, who is already with MoDo Hockey in Sweden.
In goal, Hampton Slukynsky and Carter George stand out as the top names, and both are heading toward their first full professional season in 2026-27. They are expected to compete for work with the Ontario Reign.
Forwards
Jared Wright
Kenny Connors
Kenta Isogai
Jimmy Lombardi
Elias Schneider
Jack Hughes
Jan Chovan
Grant Slukynsky
Vojtech Cihar
Kaleb Lawrence
Cash Koch
Liam Lefebvre
Brendan Gorman
Koehn Ziemmer
Defensemen
Adam Goljer
Michael Mastrodomenico
Jakub Dvorak
Otto Salin
Nate Corbet
Henry Brzustewicz
Kirill Kirsanov
Jared Woolley
Giorgos Pantelas
Lucas Ambrosio
Goalies
Hampton Slukynsky
Yegor Rybkin
In Other News...
Alex Turcotte Enters A Kings Season That Could Define His Future
Alex Turcotte heads into the new season with more on the line than most players in his spot. After his offensive production slipped during the 2025-26 NHL season, when injuries were part of the picture and he finished with 3 goals and 14 points in 62 games, the Kings were still willing to give him a bigger look after moving Phillip Danault midseason. It was the sort of opening a young center hopes for, a chance to turn opportunity into standing.
Instead, Turcotte did not fully seize it, and now the 2026-27 season arrives as the final year of his contract. Los Angeles still has reason to keep watching closely, because this is the kind of contract year that can clarify whether a player is part of the next phase or simply a useful stopgap. For Turcotte, the urgency is real, even if the role he is expected to enter suggests the climb back up the lineup will not be simple. [Read more 🡒]
Sammy Helenius Has A Real Kings Roster Fight On His Hands
Sammy Helenius already carved out a role for himself in Los Angeles last season, getting into 53 games and bringing the kind of straight-ahead physical presence that shows up in the hit column as much as on the score sheet. He chipped in five goals and four assists, and the Kings rewarded that work by keeping him around with a new deal, a sign the organization sees value in what he brings to a bottom-six group that always has to earn its ice time.
The next step is less about whether Helenius belongs in the picture and more about where he fits when training camp opens for 2026-27. The Kings have a genuine fight coming for the fourth-line center job, with Alex Turcotte among the names in the mix, and that competition should make for one of the more interesting roster battles on the back end of camp. [Read more 🡒]
Kings Rookie Camp Opens An Early Battle Fans Will Want To Watch
The Kings have opened rookie camp with a roster that gives a pretty clear look at the organizations next wave, blending familiar names with fresh additions. Fourteen players are back from previous seasons, including forwards Jared Wright and Kenny Connors and defensemen Henry Brzustewicz and Jared Woolley, while the group also features five players selected in the 2026 NHL Draft and 11 who spent last season with the Ontario Reign in the AHL.
For a team still sorting out its depth chart, the five-day rookie tournament with six teams should offer an early read on who is pushing for a bigger role and who is simply trying to stay in the mix. The Kings are also giving fans a chance to get a closer look with a public practice session on Sept. 11, a small but welcome checkpoint as the clubs prospect pipeline starts to take shape. [Read more 🡒]