The training-camp previews roll on as we shift from the left-handed defensemen to the right-handed defensemen.

The Kings have substantially more defensemen with left shots than right coming into camp this fall. Part 2 in this series on Monday detailed a group of ten players coming to camp as left-shot defensemen. This article has substantially fewer, as the Kings have five players under contract who are right-shot defensemen, joined by a pair of players at the AHL level. As noted, I’d expect there to be some unbalanced lineups especially at the AHL level to begin the season.

Here are the players under contract who will be attending camp in a couple of weeks –

NHL Contracted RHD, Pro: Kyle Burroughs, Cody Ceci, Brandt Clarke, Drew Doughty, Otto Salin
NHL Contract RHD, Junior: None
AHL Contracted RHD: Jack Millar, Tim Rego

Where They’re At
The Kings have four players who played NHL games last season coming to camp, along with Otto Salin, who made his professional debut with the Ontario Reign in the spring.

Headlining the group is a healthy and motivated Drew Doughty, who missed the first four months of last season with a fractured ankle. Doughty went down during the first period of his first preseason game in Vegas and did not return until late-January. Doughty was back in the lineup for the second part of the season and the playoffs but he wasn’t 100 percent of the player he has been in years prior.

That should all be behind him now and the Kings need it to be. Simply put, they need Doughty at the top of his game and all signs point towards that being the case.

Behind Doughty in the pecking order are two very different members of the Kings blueline – Brandt Clarke and Cody Ceci.

Starting with Clarke, more on his summer of growth here, but both player and team are expecting a big step forward and a big season. Clarke is the team’s most gifted offensive defenseman and had a solid rookie season. Yeah, there were some hiccups but when you look at Clarke compared to other defensemen of his age and experience level, he’s playing a bigger role on a playoff team than just about any other defenseman in the league with those qualifiers.

The hope would be for Clarke to take on a larger role this season, seeing a couple of more minutes at even strength, likely soaking up some of the role vacated by Vladislav Gavrikov. Not a given, but that seems to be the internal hope.

In Ceci, the Kings have a player who excels on the penalty kill and is here to defend, rather than to produce points. Ceci, as I noted when he signed with the Kings on July 1, is such a fascinating case study to me. His analytics are rough in a lot of areas but he’s been trusted by numerous NHL coaches to play a top-four role on playoff teams. He’s been to the Conference Finals four times in the past nine seasons, playing a top-four role on each of those teams. He has earned trust everywhere he’s been. The Kings see Ceci as a player who should fill Gavrikov’s role while shorthanded, offering a right-shot complement to either Brian Dumoulin or Joel Edmundson at 5-on-5.

Rounding out the quartet with NHL experience is Kyle Burroughs, who played 33 games with the Kings last season. When the Kings went with seven defensemen in the lineup, an alignment they had a lot of success with, Burroughs was the natural seventh guy. He’s a great teammate and a reliable player who accepts and embraces his role. He brings a lot of things you like to have in a player who isn’t guaranteed to play every night. If the Kings keep eight defensemen, Burroughs is likely in the mix and should an opening arise, he’s a known commodity with 201 NHL games in his career.

The final right-shot blueliner in the group is young Otto Salin, who will play his first full season professionally in North America. Salin was among the top young defensemen playing in Finland last season. Among blueliners under the age of 25 playing in Liiga, Finland’s top professional devision, none had more points than Salin, who averaged a half-point-per-game with 28 (8-20-28) from 56 games played.

Millar and Rigo round out the group on AHL contracts. Millar played regularly in the AHL last season with Ontario while Rego played four seasons collegiately at Cornell and made his professional debut last season in the ECHL with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits.

What To Look For
We know where Doughty will play. He’s the teams RD1 and he’s likely on a defensive pair with Mikey Anderson to kick things off. Not set in stone, but we’ve seen those two play together so frequently it feels like the most likely starting point.

The definition of roles between Clarke and Ceci will be determined during camp and exhibition games. In one form or another, those will likely be the RD2 and RD3 to begin the season. I think that an ideal world would see Clarke take on the larger role, because it means he’s earned it with his development and his play. His ceiling is very high and he’s the top young defenseman in the organization. If he takes a step forward and earns the trust of those minutes, that’s a big win for the Kings.

Ceci is more of a known quantity and he’ll play a large role on the penalty kill, with the track record of playing against higher-end opponents when called upon. With Doughty in place, I think he’ll eat the most difficult minutes available at 5-on-5 with Ceci set to take on penalty-killing minutes as well as playing a part at 5-on-5.

One to watch for is how those minutes are ultimately distributed. I’d like to see Clarke get the chance to take on more and see how he handles it.

In Burroughs, he’ll be in camp to claim a spot and he’s more than capable of doing that. As noted, he’s a terrific guy in the locker room and he did his job when he was in the lineup last season.

Salin is likely targeted for the AHL to start the season. Without a ton of players on the right, he should have the chance to play regularly with the Ontario Reign. He had a nice year last year in Finland but the AHL is a different beast, with a much more physical brand of hockey on a smaller ice sheet in North America. That can take time to adjust to but he should have the chance to play through some of that early in the season. A prospect with some promise, who should play in an exhibition game or two before heading to Ontario.

Looking Ahead
On to the forwards next. Will dive into the forward group, split up into wingers and centers, to round out the camp previews. We are just over two weeks away from main camp getting underway and only a week or so from the rookies hitting the ice to really kick things off. Just about there, Insiders. Pretty exciting.