Training camp is setting up a real fight down the middle for the Los Angeles Kings, and Sammy Helenius is right in the middle of it. The battle with Alex Turcotte is one of the roster questions worth watching this fall, especially after Helenius spent much of last season carving out a steady role in the bottom six.
Helenius appeared in 53 games last season, the second straight year he played in more than half of the Kings’ regular-season schedule. He finished with career highs across the board: five goals, four assists and nine points. That production came after he missed the opening-night roster for former head coach Jim Hiller, but by the final months of the season he had become a regular part of the fourth-line mix.
The numbers from 2025-26 show a player who gave the Kings more than just occasional energy shifts. Helenius averaged a little over eight minutes per game, yet still piled up 144 hits.
That came on top of the 150 hits he recorded in 50 games in 2024-25, giving him 294 hits in just over 100 career regular-season games. Add in 50 penalty minutes and six fighting majors, and it’s easy to see the kind of edge he brought every night.
At 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, Helenius is one of the more physically imposing young bottom-six centers in the Pacific Division. That size showed up in the way he played: physical, responsible and relentless on the forecheck.
The underlying numbers also suggest there was real value there for Los Angeles. He posted a 53.0 expected goals-for percentage and a 13.2 5-on-5 shooting percentage, even with a 48.0% corsi-for percentage and 49.3 scoring chances for percentage, according to Natural Stat Trick.
For the season, Helenius’ advanced line read 13.2 shooting percentage, 13.2 5-on-5 shooting percentage, 1.3 points per 60, 0.6 point shares and 0.5 WAR. His possession metrics came in at 48.0 CF%, 49.3 SCF%, 97.1 PDO and 51.0 HDCF%.
The Kings clearly believe he can be part of the solution in the bottom six. General manager Ken Holland and the team gave Helenius a two-year extension in December worth around $875K in average annual value, running through the end of the 2027-28 season. He’ll be a restricted free agent at the end of that contract in the 2028 offseason.
Still, the opening-night picture isn’t settled in his favor. Helenius is projected to compete with Turcotte and possibly Kenny Connors and Lane Pederson for the fourth-line center job, while the current projection has Turcotte centering Corey Perry and Joel Armia on the fourth line. That leaves Helenius on the outside looking in as camp and preseason begin.
What he has to prove now is straightforward: he needs more offense without losing the physical, two-way identity that earned him this opportunity in the first place. Over 103 career games, Helenius has nine goals, seven assists and 16 points.
Over a full 82-game season, that pace points to roughly seven or 10 goals and 20 points. A season like that, along with about 10 minutes a night, would count as a success.
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 🡒]
Kings Prospects Just Got An Early Chance To Shake Up Fall Plans
The Kings are giving their prospects a clear early-stage audition next month, unveiling the schedule and roster for rookie camp and the annual Rookie Faceoff. The group will open with a practice in El Segundo before heading into a three-game slate against the Sharks, Ducks and Mammoth, a useful first look at a mix of recent draft picks and returning names who will be trying to make a mark before main camp gets underway.
The roster has some familiar prospect buzz attached to it, with Jared Wright, Kenny Connors and Henry Brzustewicz among the skaters to watch, and goalie prospects Hampton Slukynsky and Carter George also in the mix. For a team trying to keep building depth from within, this is the kind of September window where a strong showing can alter fall plans, even if one of the organizations most intriguing young pieces will be somewhere else getting his season started. [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 🡒]