The LA Kings hit the ice today for practice at Toyota Sports Performance Center, in advance of an afternoon flight to Vegas.
For starters, a few updates from what we saw yesterday, plus a couple of new ones.
Let’s start with the positive.
Forward Quinton Byfield was back on the ice today after he missed yesterday’s practice. Simple one there – maintenance day for Byfield. He was a full participant in today’s skate, working with his regular linemates, Adrian Kempe and Artemi Panarin. Byfield will travel with the team today and I am expecting to see that line back together when the Kings hit the ice tomorrow against the Vegas Golden Knights. Doesn’t seem like anything to be concerned with.
On the other side, a number of other situations in play here, with updates below.
On forward Mats Zuccarello, he is not expected to travel with the team this afternoon. Zuccarello is out on a week-to-week timeline, per Head Coach Peter Laviolette, and will miss tomorrow’s game against Vegas, certainly. Beyond that, week-to-week would point towards him likely missing the games against Edmonton and Boston at home as well. If there’s a week to miss, I suppose one of the only weeks of the season with only two games on the schedule. So, we’ll probably be looking for an update before the team heads to Washington, DC after the game versus the Bruins. There’s a five-game trip on the East Coast beginning against the Capitals that should be a good benchmark for Zuccarello.
Also not on the ice this afternoon was forward Alex Turcotte. Per Peter Laviolette, Turcotte is on a day-to-day timeline. Unclear if he will travel with the team to Vegas, so we’ll get a better sense come the morning on his potential availability for tomorrow’s game. Turcotte was out there yesterday, so that’s a new development.
Lastly, during practice today, what looked to be a scary situation with defenseman Brandt Clarke saw him leave the ice for a portion of practice. I asked him what happened and in the first drill of the day, he stepped on a stick blade behind the net, which caused him to fall. During the fall, his helmet visor came down and cut his lip, which led to him leaving the ice with a towel on his face. Clarke later returned to practice, though, to stick taps from his teammates, with a little celly as he got back on the sheet. Everyone was in good spirits about it. Clarke took power-play reps with his usual unit when he came back. So, despite the initial departure, he told me he’s all good. A relief on that front.
So that’s that.
Now, as a corresponding roster move, for Zuccarello certainly but I suppose for Turcotte as well, the Kings recalled forward Jared Wright from the AHL’s Ontario Reign.
Corresponding move for Zuccarello ⬇️ Wright has goals in both games he’s played this season in the AHL, including the overtime game winner on opening night.
— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) October 9, 2026
Wright is off to a good start to the season with the Reign. He’s scored in both games, including the overtime game-winning goal in the season opener versus Coachella Valley. 3-on-3 usage in the AHL makes sense with his speed. What I like about Wright’s game is how he was able to translate it last season to the NHL in a different role. Some players struggle with that. When they play 20 minutes in the AHL, top power play, used in all situations, but are asked to play 12 minutes in the bottom six in the NHL, it can be a transition. It wasn’t for Wright, who is a featured player with the Reign but adjusts his game well in a different role with the Kings. Hopefully, he’s able to translate a little bit of the offense along with it this time around, which was really the only thing missing last season.
“He made an impression, I think, just because of his speed, like he’s very noticeable,” Laviolette said of Wright. “He gets on pucks. He gets on the forecheck. He’s had a great start to his season in Ontario, a couple goals, and when guys come out of the lineup, it’s an opportunity for somebody. Just by the way he played, he gets called back up.”
WRIGHT PLACE, WRIGHT TIME🧃OT winner!!
#ONTvsCV #ReignTrain #KingsAreBornInTheEmpire https://t.co/6XU0L2lXRs
— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) October 3, 2026
With that being said, Wright was the first to say that he has holes in his game, things he’s trying to work on, to go from a callup option to a full-time NHL player.
Wright, last season, skated at an elite NHL level. Despite only playing around 25 percent of the season, Wright ranked in the 92nd percentile in speed burst of 22 miles per hour or greater in 23 games played. That’s pretty impressive.
Offensively though, despite playing mostly on the third line, Wright had only four points, all assistsm in 23 games played in the regular season. Unprompted, he offered today that when he went down the AHL during training camp, he did so understanding that there are areas of his game he wanted to work on to become an everyday NHL player.
“Holding onto pucks below the circles, I feel like I sometimes just throw the puck whenever I get it, on the first touch,” Wright said. “It’s also developing more of a shooting mindset and not always deferring to my teammates. It seems like no matter if you’re in the NHL or the AHL, you might only get that chance during the game. So, any chance, you’ve got to make them count.”
It’s a similar story to what we heard from Alex Laferriere, who said he was personally encouraged by Laviolette to hold onto pucks longer. We saw the reward in Game 1, when Laferriere showed patience, rounding the net instead of shooting from a bad angle, which led to a nice exchange with Brian Dumoulin for the first goal of the season. Wright said he has been encouraged to be confident with the puck, which should help to grow his offensive game. He’s committed to working on it and we’ll see tomorrow if he gets the chance to showcase it at T-Mobile Arena.
What should make the jump familiar for Wright is helped by two things.
Number one, he was just here a couple weeks ago. Wright was only assigned to the AHL in late-September, so it’s not like he’s been away from the team for two months. That makes things easier. Secondly, Wright played a lot with Scott Laughton and Joel Armia last season and those were his linemates here today. That was the third line for most of last season. That helps too.
With all of that in mind, here’s how the Kings lined up during today’s skate –
Panarin – Byfield – Kempe
Moore – Haula – Laferriere
Wright – Laughton – Armia
Lee – Helenius – Perry
Dumoulin – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Anderson – Ceci
Gustafsson
Kuemper / Forsberg
On power-play reps, it was Alex Laferriere who took the spot of Mats Zuccarello, with an adjustment to the base alignment. However, when the Kings are buzzing on the power play, base alignment isn’t all that important. Laferriere and Zuccarello are different players, though, so they won’t play the exact same roles, which also will impact Kempe and Byfield.
I’ll dive into the lineup a bit tomorrow, which only took three games to look an awful lot like it did last season. With Turcotte, Zuccarello and forward Kevin Fiala all out, the Kings are essentially down an entire line, which bumps everyone up and puts the pressure on those players to step up and deliver more. More to come on that front in the morning.