Alex Turcotte Back At Kings Practice

Los Angeles Kings forward Alex Turcotte returned to full participation at Kings practice on Tuesday morning, per Jesse Cohen of the KingsMen Podcast.

This was Turcotte’s first time skating with the team since he was placed on injured reserve on October 10 with an undisclosed injury, although he has been skating on his own for the past several days.

The progress for the former fifth overall pick is welcome news for a Kings team that has struggled out of the gate this season with a depleted forward group. Adrian Kempe is day-to-day after sitting out Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Both Mats Zuccarello and Kevin Fiala remain on IR. Zuccarello is considered week-to-week with an upper-body injury, while Fiala has yet to play this season as he works back from the broken leg he suffered at the 2026 Winter Olympics, which required a second procedure over the summer.

Los Angeles sits at 4-7-2 through 13 games, last in the Pacific Division with 10 points, after opening Peter Laviolette’s first season behind the bench with six straight losses (0-4-2). Scoring has been the primary issue. The Kings’ 36 goals rank 28th in the league, and they are shooting 9.9 percent as a team (league average of 11.5 percent). Artemi Panarin leads the club with eight goals and 13 points, and no other King has more than three goals. Special teams haven’t helped either, with the power play converting at a middle of the pack 18.2 percent but the penalty kill sitting at a league worst 61.5 percent.

The Kings are also playing their first season since longtime captain Anze Kopitar retired, which has left them thinner down the middle. That raises the stakes for Turcotte’s return. Prior to the injury, Turcotte was centering Alex Laferriere and Trevor Moore on the Kings’ second line. He had one assist in three games this season, all Los Angeles losses.

A return to that role would give Turcotte another chance to establish himself offensively, something he hasn’t been able to do consistently since the Kings drafted him in 2019. After turning pro out of the University of Wisconsin, he spent most of his first three professional seasons with the AHL’s Ontario Reign and appeared in just 32 NHL games over that span. He earned a regular role in 2024-25 and set career highs with nine goals and 25 points in 68 games. Last season he took a step back, with three goals and 14 points in 62 games while averaging 10:50 per night. He now has 13 goals and 44 points in 165 career NHL games.

There is no timetable yet for Turcotte’s return to game action. The Kings next play Wednesday against the San Jose Sharks.