![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2184081681-640x430.jpg\" "\\"Columbus")
<\/p>\nThe NHL roster bubble is an interesting place. <\/p>\n
When players on the bubble hit the ice during the preseason, they\u2019re often doing so alongside the very players they\u2019re competing with for spots on the NHL roster. <\/p>\n
Jim Hiller hadn\u2019t really thought about it that way but when he thought about it, it made a lot of sense. <\/p>\n
\u201cI hadn\u2019t thought about it that way but I guess that is the truth,\u201d he said. \u201cI think one thing about a team in general is there\u2019s internal competition everywhere. It\u2019s a competition for one, who makes a team, two, who gets into the opening night lineup or three, does somebody make the penalty kill but you do have the other guys you\u2019re competing with. Who gets on the first power play, who gets first penalty kill, second penalty kill\u2026..so I think the competition is always there within a team and that\u2019s healthy that you\u2019re pushing each other, trying to get the best out of one another, but this is a more unique situation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Take Andre Lee, Samuel Helenius and Akil Thomas for example. <\/p>\n
They\u2019ve been a line in both practices and games and playing together, for the greater good. The three of them played together in Ontario and Bakersfield while Lee\/Helenius were paired together in Vegas and Thomas\/Helenius were together in Anaheim. That\u2019s four games and in all four, at least two of those players were together on the same line. <\/p>\n
In those situations, they\u2019re a line, or two-thirds of a line, that is working together for the betterment of the Kings. In game situations, what is best for the team is typically what\u2019s best for the individual as well. If one player were to go rogue, it\u2019s not like that likely helps them to standout amongst the crowd. For those in that position, while they understand there is an internal competition, they\u2019re all taking the approach of playing together first.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow that you say that, yeah, it\u2019s kind of interesting, but as soon as the puck drops I think you\u2019re just in team mode and I think we\u2019ve all been helping each other out, playing the right way and just playing together,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cNo one\u2019s selfish or anything, we\u2019re all playing together, but I guess it is a little interesting.\u201d<\/p>\n
There is certainly competition, which is only natural. <\/p>\n
In a healthy way, as Hiller highlighted, that exists within any team and frankly it should. Players pushing for more is how you advance things. If Alex Turcotte was content with being the team\u2019s fourth-line center then he wouldn\u2019t be striving for more and pushing to improve. If Turcotte can bring a third-line center\u2019s game to the fourth-line center role, it pushes the Top-9 and raises the level of the fourth line in the process.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s one thing, though, to have a healthy competition in that way. If it went the other way, though, it could hurt the team as a whole, though Lee does not believe there\u2019s any of that in play here, believing that he, Thomas and Helenius played well together as a trio, where the line\u2019s success only makes the three look better individually. <\/p>\n
\u201cOf course there\u2019s competition, but I think we played well as three and everyone had that mindset, that they want to go in, they want to play as good as possible to try to grab a spot, but we\u2019re going on the ice together,\u201d Lee added. \u201cWe are pushing each other, but if we were to go out there and we\u2019re competing against each other then I think it would just be bad for the chemistry of the line.\u201d<\/p>\n
This is not a unique concept to the Kings, nor is it new this season. But at this time of the year, it\u2019s a hot topic, especially on a team that has a lot of guys already solidified in roster spots.<\/p>\n
Looking specifically at the forwards, 11 spots are more or less locked in. Jeff Malott has stood out early in camp, playing in the first three exhibition games and impressing, with Hiller noting he \u201clooks like an NHL player\u201d. Not all that surprising, considering his comfort in fitting in late last season and into the playoffs, but he certainly didn\u2019t come into camp with a spot locked down. <\/p>\n
However, with Corey Perry injured and missing the start of the season, Malott is who has done well in an attempt to separate himself from the pack.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust a great opportunity,\u201d Malott said. \u201cThat\u2019s all you ask for, is an opportunity, so you just go out, whether it\u2019s back-to-backs or 3-in-4\u2019s whatever, you just do your best to make an impact, do your best to try and hit all the things that they\u2019re looking for and have a good showing during training camp.\u201d<\/p>\n
Malott has skated with Turcotte and forward Joel Armia over the last few days on what could be the fourth line for the home opener on October 7. That\u2019s no lock, considering the players competing around him, but Malott is likely the front runner at this stage in camp. <\/p>\n
Lee, Thomas and Helenius are in that mix as well, both for spots in the lineup for Game 1 and for spots on the roster at the NHL level. <\/p>\n
Helenius played in 50 games last season with the Kings after he made his NHL debut in November. He also skated in all six playoff games against the Oilers. Helenius is waiver-eligible this season and considering all of those factors, he feels likely to make the NHL roster. With his size at 6-6 and promising signs of adjustment to the NHL level, Helenius feels likely to be among the 13 or 14 forwards to make the team. <\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve played in all [four games], so that\u2019s hard, but it\u2019s been nice to get into all the games and build to be ready for the season.\u201d<\/p>\n
Helenius is the only forward in training camp who has featured in all four exhibition games to date. An opportunity for him?<\/p>\n
\u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Lhoto by Ronald Martinez\/Getty Images<\/p>\n
That comes down to Lee and Thomas for one spot, assuming the Kings carry 14 forwards, which Jacob Moverare and Kyle Burroughs might have something to say about. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s that simple, though. Complicating the roster picture are a couple of others who are pushing.<\/p>\n
Forward Liam Greentree has three assists in three exhibition games, including a threaded helped in Bakersfield on Saturday. He\u2019s stood out more in NHL preseason games than he did in the Rookie Faceoff against his peers, which was interesting. Greentree would benefit from the opportunity to play in the AHL this season but a rule change that would make that possible appears to be one year too late for a player who was born one day too late to qualify by his birthday. A tough break, but it\u2019s NHL or bust for Greentree. <\/p>\n
Nonetheless, he\u2019s looking at his time here as an opportunity to showcase what he can do. <\/p>\n
\u201cI set myself up to feel really comfortable here and I set myself some really high expectations,\u201d Greentree said. \u201cI know I\u2019ve got some work to do but I feel way better than I did last year. I\u2019m trying to make the most of every time I get on the ice, to show myself and especially the games are huge for me. So, just making sure I\u2019m dialed in and doing what I can to play my best.\u201d<\/p>\n
Forward Taylor Ward has had a nice training camp after an impressive debut in Game 82 last season. While he\u2019s probably a bit further off the radar than say Lee or Thomas, he\u2019s a guy who has earned his place of at least being on the radar as well and I think he\u2019s continued his progression towards impacting the roster picture. <\/p>\n
All of those players have shown well of themselves in training camp but there\u2019s not room on the NHL roster for all of them. Hence the roster competition. <\/p>\n
Tomorrow\u2019s game could be a real pivotal moment for players in that group. <\/p>\n
While I\u2019d expect the guys with NHL experience to stick with the main group through the end of the week regardless, for a Greentree, who is on the outside trying to work his way in, tomorrow could be his last opportunity to showcase what he can do in a preseason setting to extend his stay in Los Angeles. He\u2019s going to be determined to do that.<\/p>\n
With the Kings looking to dress closer to an Opening Night lineup in the final two exhibition games, I\u2019d think that most of the players mentioned in this article could feature as the Kings further continue the competition. Most of these guys will be around past tomorrow\u2019s game but tomorrow is a big opportunity to showcase what they can do. The battle rolls on and it\u2019s certainly a storyline to follow over the next few days. <\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/GettyImages-2236160998-640x427.jpg\" "\\"Anaheim")
<\/p>\n
Photo by Gary A. Vasquez\/NHLI via Getty Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The NHL roster bubble is an interesting place. When players on the bubble hit the ice during the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":191691,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,99],"class_list":["post-191690","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191690","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=191690"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/191690\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/191691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=191690"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=191690"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=191690"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}