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What's the old saying? If you're not moving forward, you're falling behind?
The Los Angeles Kings might want to take heed. While the rest of the Pacific Division did cartwheels in an attempt to get better in the offseason, the Kings simply let go of some veterans in hopes that younger players can fill the open spots. Because of that, training camp could be one of the most important times of the season for coach Andy Murray and his staff. Los Angeles lost Kelly Buchberger, Cliff Ronning, and Philippe Boucher to free agency, bought out Nelson Emerson's contract and swapped 23-year-old Adam Mair for 25-year-old Erik Rasmussen. That means as many as four or five top prospects could make the team.
Tryouts: Simply put, no team in the Pacific Division will be holding more tryouts than the Kings during the preseason. Los Angeles has opted to go with kids -- now they have to figure out which kids to go with. Rasmussen has the potential to slide up into a second-line role, but the Kings' strength in youth seems to be in skilled players. Because of that, expect Alexander Frolov, Mike Cammalleri and Jared Aulin to be battling for the right to play with the top forwards. If two of the kids come along, Murray might be able to spread his scoring depth and put together three lines that can score. The Kings lost a half a goal a game in the scoring department last season and would like to make that up.
Jason returns: When the Kings pulled the deal to acquire Jason Allison last season, they christened him as one of the major building blocks of the future. After missing the first six games of the season because of his holdout with Boston, Allison happily grabbed the on-ice role and scored 74 points in 73 games. Off the ice, he wasn't able to fully assume a significant chunk of the leadership responsibilities. With the 27-year-old center in camp from the get-go, there is more of a chance this will become his team.
One more opening: In addition to filling several holes in the forward ranks, the Kings also have to replace Boucher, who signed as a free agent with Dallas. Boucher averaged 21:35 of ice time on defense last season, including 3:28 on the power play. Andreas Lilja will probably see the greatest increase in ice time (11:26) from last season, but the Kings also will be asking more of Lubomir Visnovsky and Jaroslav Modry. Rookie Joe Corvo leads the pack of prospects and he could be ready to make an impact at age 25.
Preseason schedule
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DATE
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OPPONENT
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TIME (ET)
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Thu., Sept. 19
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San Jose
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10:30 p.m.
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Sun., Sept. 22
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vs. Anaheim at Bakersfield, Calif.
(Centennial Garden)
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8 p.m.
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Wed., Sept. 25
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at Colorado
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9 p.m.
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Thu., Sept. 26
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Phoenix
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10:30 p.m.
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Sat., Sept. 28
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at San Jose
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10:30 p.m.
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Sun., Sept. 29
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at Anaheim
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8 p.m.
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Thu., Oct. 3
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vs. Phoenix at Oklahoma City, Okla. (Ford Center)
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8:30 p.m.
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Sat., Oct. 5
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vs. Colorado at Las Vegas (MGM Gradn Garden)
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10:30 p.m.
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