The LA Kings are at their number.
23 players who are expected to be on the roster for Opening Night, assuming full health between now and October 7.
“I would say that was it,” Hiller said of expected transactions. “What happened was last year, we went on to Quebec for that week, those final two exhibition games, I think we took 25, 26 guys, most guys played both nights and we really liked how that flowed into the season. Kopi and those guys have only played one game so far, so we’ve got a lot of players who have done a lot of practicing and not much playing. We’d like to feel like this is kind of our roster set. We want to get two good games in prior to Tuesday, which is going to be on us before we know it. We’ve just got a better rhythm with just 23.”
Now, that’s naturally not guaranteed.
Defensemen Joel Edmundson and Kyle Burroughs missed today’s practice. Edmundson’s absence was simply described as “maintenance” by Head Coach Jim Hiller, so not expecting any cause for concern there. Burroughs, though, left last night’s preseason game with an upper-body injury after he blocked a shot. Hiller seemed optimistic about his status but admitted that the team is still awaiting some additional results from earlier today.
The @LAKings were without Joel Edmundson & Kyle Burroughs at practice today.
Simply “maintenance” for Edmundson, per Jim Hiller. With Burroughs, his injury yesterday came on a blocked shot, upper body. LAK still waiting on some follow-up testing, just exercising caution for now.
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) October 1, 2025
Cautiously optimistic from what I’ve heard so far and the moves made today suggest that both should be fine, though Burroughs certainly feels like the lesser known of the two.
Assuming both are good to go, it means the Kings are planning to begin the regular season with 13 forwards and 8 defensemen. That’s not unheard of and it’s actually the second year in a row the Kings have taken that approach. For Hiller, he didn’t reveal a ton on how this group of 23 ultimately came to be, noting that you have to go one of two directions and the opted for 13/8 to begin.
“There’s different philosophies on two forwards, one D, two D, one forward with what that extra is going to look like, I don’t think anybody goes three extras in either position, but sometimes it’s based on who’s eligible for waivers, who isn’t, where your depth is, any lingering injuries. I wouldn’t read too much into it, this is just kind of where it’s landed for now.”
I think that, in my mind at least, the choice seemed to come down to carrying both Burroughs and Jacob Moverare versus opting for just one, with an extra forward sticking up as well. In this scenario, the odd players out are Akil Thomas, Andre Lee, Taylor Ward and Liam Greentree. The former three were placed on waivers today while Greentree will return to the OHL.
I think that Lee, Thomas and Ward each had their flashes during camp and all three played several games to showcase themselves, as did Burroughs and Moverare. Should all three clear waivers, that’s likely your first three callups in one order or another, should reinforcements be needed. Burroughs and Moverare both sticking around shouldn’t be all that surprising, seeing as Burroughs spent the entire 2024-25 season with the Kings and Moverare established himself as a regular last year. For Moverare, it’s actually a really cool story. While he’s played NHL games now in four consecutive seasons, he’s never made the Opening Night roster. To do so, as he’s expected to this year, means a lot to him.
“It would mean a lot because I’ve been close a couple times and it’s been hard, heartbreaking honestly,” Moverare said of past years. “Sometimes, you feel like maybe you should make the team and you don’t, so it would mean a lot to actually make the team from the first day.”
Hiller talked about Moverare as being one of the stories that makes training camp great. He talked about how Ken Holland referenced defenseman Nick Jensen, a longtime Detroit Red Wing, as being a guy he had the difficult end of that conversation with several times. Once he broke through, though, Jensen has established a nice NHL career in Detroit, Washington and Ottawa.
Moverare is the kind of guy who just stuck with it and now has gone from someone who was overlooked to someone who has forced his way onto the radar.
“You love those players who just persevere, take the news, go down, keep playing,” Hiller said of Moverare. “For him, it’s a similar path. I think last year, he really established himself as an NHL defenseman, so I don’t think there’s any question there, it’s just whether he’s in our top six or not.”
When he’s been called upon, Moverare has continued to show that he is a reliable third-pairing option whether the Kings dress six or seven blueliners. Really good reflection on Moverare, his approach and attitude over the years as well as what Hiller noted in his perseverance. Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy and it’s great to see him get the reward.
While several players were assigned to the AHL today, one who was not was forward Liam Greentree. Unfortunately, Greentree cannot play in the AHL this season due to an agreement in place between the NHL and the CHL leagues. There was some hope that a rule change to allow that might be expedited but that will likely come with the 2026-27 season. Greentree was reassigned to the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires today, where he’ll be the team’s captain with an OHL championship in mind, along with a place at the 2026 World Juniors with Team Canada.
It’s a shame Greentree can’t play in the AHL but as @mayorNHL notes, w/ no Top-9 NHL spot open, the OHL makes sense right now.
WJC with Team also on his radar?
“Something I’ve thought about…..representing your country, especially at World Juniors, would be really special.” https://t.co/4XXNCtB5zr
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) October 1, 2025
Asking Hiller about Greentree, he gave a long and detailed answer about what he saw in terms of growth from last training camp to this training camp, along with one area of his game he and the team with the Kings sent Greentree back to Windsor with an eye on – puck management. Still, Hiller was very complementary of Greentree’s growth.
I think he’s physically much stronger and I think a lot of times what comes with that is the second time around, a little bit more confidence with the surroundings. You know what NHL players are, playing against them and with them feels like first time, i’s all pretty new, so I think he was a lot more comfortable generally, so I think he was able to maybe absorb a little bit more of the information, rather than just kind of happy to be here and having all these firsts. We saw his offensive ability. He probably had two or three goals that typically he would score, because he’s a shooter. We saw him make some really nice passes, really nice plays with the puck, so all those things are in place. It’s just a matter of continuing the maturation process and understanding that at the NHL level, if you make a mistake, the other guys are so good, just like you are in junior. Somebody makes a mistake when you’re on the ice, bang, you can put in the back of the net. Somebody makes a mistake in the NHL and bang, they’re coming at you. So I think, puck management is probably the one thing that we’ve left him with. Just making sure, as an offensive player, he’s taking the risk when it’s there.
So there you have it.
Tomorrow morning, we’ll learn the fates of the players who were placed on waivers by the Kings, as well as the outside chance of the Kings claiming a player who was waived by another club. Assuming everyone clears, that entire group is expected to be assigned to the AHL’s Ontario Reign, who have a preseason exhibition game tomorrow afternoon against the Coachella Valley Firebirds, though I’d think the lineup tomorrow will be driven by younger players and those on AHL contracts who did not get an opportunity to play during the preseason.
23 players left, Insiders. Means we’re getting close to getting this thing underway and that’s pretty exciting.
