EL SEGUNDO –– Kings training camp opened with a bang Thursday as prospect Aatu Jämsen scored a lacrosse-style goal to ignite the fireworks on the ice before captain Anže Kopitar dropped a bomb in the dressing room.
“We’re not going to play the 1-3-1 this year,” Kopitar proclaimed.
Coach Jim Hiller, whose interim tag was removed in the spring, said Kopitar and the players were informed in recent days of a change to a more traditional 1-2-2 neutral-zone forecheck. He and Kopitar emphasized that the Kings would remain a defense-first team and not stray from their core organizational tenets.
Seldom has a detail as specific as a defensive alignment been such a prominent topic of conversation, but the 1-3-1 has a history of drawing a mix of frustration and ridicule from opponents. When its effectiveness diminishes, it can also flummox players and fans.
At the Kings’ exit interviews following their third consecutive first-round loss to the Edmonton Oilers – something defenseman Drew Doughty downplayed as the team sought to restore its high expectations – both Adrian Kempe and Kevin Fiala affirmed their desire to move away from the 1-3-1.
“We’re (making) the change and I think, for me, personally, last year as a right winger, I had to go back for the puck a lot and I wasn’t up on the rush as the main guy,” Kempe said Thursday. “Playing a 1-2-2, once we turn the puck over in our favor, there’s going to be times where we get good rush opportunities and that’s where I feel like my game is really good.”
Doughty pointed to the commonality of the 1-2-2 not only in the NHL but through developmental levels of hockey, indicating he felt the transition would be relatively swift and smooth.
Beyond the forecheck, the body check was a theme as camp opened. Free-agent acquisition Joel Edmundson blasted Samuel Fagemo near the boards and Quinton Byfield dropped two defensemen, Brandt Clarke and Mikey Anderson, one with a louder thud than the last.
“The scrimmage felt more physical than we’ve had in the last few years. We signed a lot of physical players and I think they started that off and then everybody kind of jumped in and realized it was going to be a tough battle out there,” Doughty said.
There were also a pair of returns at camp, with depth goalie Pheonix Copley looking none the worse for wear after reconstructive knee surgery last season. Hiller said Copley excelled in team fitness testing and that his hard work in rehabilitation returned him to the ice sooner than expected.
Entirely unexpected, at one point, was the return of Arthur Kaliyev. Once an ascending stock in the Kings’ portfolio, Kaliyev plummeted out of favor last season and appeared headed for a new environment. Then, just a day before camp kicked off, he signed a one-year, $825,000 contract extension.
“We were just figuring out where I could play, that was the whole discussion,” Kaliyev said, clarifying that there was, in fact, a feeling-out process for a potential trade.
Kaliyev said his role was not yet defined or discussed at length. In Thursday’s scrimmage, he skated with Trevor Lewis and Akil Thomas, both of whom are projected to play bottom-six roles.
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Last season, Kaliyev started the year as a regular but was more an abstract concept than a concrete piece of the team down the stretch and in the playoffs. He said little was communicated to him during that period, one where his frustration was noticeable in his demeanor.
“Obviously, it was tough last year. I mean, you can’t get down on yourself, or I think it would be even worse,” Kaliyev said. “I think this is a good, fresh start. Just starting from the bottom and trying to get back up and do your best every single day you come in here.”