The LA Kings have added a couple of new goalies to the organizational depth chart this off-season, leading to an interesting group—my thoughts on the strongest goalie depth the Kings have had in years.
Darcy Kuemper
Darcy Kuemper returns to LA after stops in Arizona, a year in Colorado where he won the Stanley Cup, and finally, Washington where he spent the last couple of seasons. Kuemper was traded for this off-season in a swap for Pierre Luc-Dubois. He’s looking for a bounce-back season because his numbers weren’t NHL-caliber last season. He finished with a record of 13-14-3 a.890 save percentage and a goals-against average of 3.31. On Money Puck, with goalies playing at least 30 games, he finished 38th in goals saved above expected. It was the worst season of his career, but there is optimism. He’s leaving a team in Washington that wasn’t very good defensively. In Joining LA, he’s joining a team that can limit the high-danger chances he faced in Washington, and a similar boat to Cam Talbot where he’s coming off a poor year, and like Talbot, has a good chance of rebounding to a more respectable stat line. I expect him to be the opening night starter against Buffalo.
David Rittich
David Rittich was signed last season as the AHL starter and a mentor to Erik Portillo. When the injury to Pheonix Copley happened, Rittich did what Copley did the previous season by stabilizing the LA net, and was a factor in LA making the playoffs. In return for his strong play, he got a much-deserved extension for this season at $1,000,000. In 24 games played, Rittich went 13-6-3 with three shutouts. He had a .921 save percentage and a 2.15 goals-against average. On Money Puck, with a minimum of 24 games played, he finished 8th in goals saved above expected. A small sample size but very encouraging numbers. He’s the backup and could play into a 50/50 split with Kuemper.
Erik Portillo
Erik Portillo should and probably will be the starter for the Ontario Reign after an incredible rookie season, which saw him become the undisputed starter during Ontario’s playoff run. His 24 wins set an Ontario Reign record for a rookie goaltender, which tied for seventh in the AHL among qualified goalies and tied for second among rookies. His goals-against average was 2.50, which was 13th in the AHL among qualified goalies, and sixth among rookies. His save percentage was .918, which tied for fifth among qualified goalies, and was fourth among rookies. He also posted two shutouts which was tied for fifth among rookie goalies. He should get the majority of the starts for Ontario and could be a potential call-up should an injury or faltering play happen with the netminders in LA. What I’d like to see is his rebound control and positioning improve it was good last year but there were several games where he should have had better numbers if his positioning was correct and he handled a rebound better. That’s something the organization can help him on.
Pheonix Copley
Copley was brought back on a one-year deal to be a mentor for Erik Portillo and potentially a spot starter for the Kings. Unfortunately, Copley couldn’t capture his run last season before he got injured and had to miss the remainder of the season. In eight games, he went 4-1-2 and posted a shutout. However, his stats were not good. He had a .870 save percentage and a goals-against average of 3.16. Copley most likely starts as the AHL backup to ease his way back into playing form as he mentors Portillo just like Rittich and Aaron Dell did. He’ll probably get the first call-up if an injury happens as he’s a more experienced goalie.
Hampton Slukynsky
Hampton Slukynsky is one of the fastest-rising goalie prospects I’ve ever seen. His past season for the Fargo Force of the USHL was video game-like numbers. In 33 games in the regular season, he went 28-3 with five shutouts, which led the league as did his 1.86 goals-against average and his .923 save percentage. He was named to the All-USHL First Team and goaltender of the year, and led his team to the championship in a dominant playoff run. He went 9-3 and posted a .931 save percentage and a 1.69 goals-against average in 12 playoff games. He was a big factor in the Fargo Force winning the Clake Cup. He was also named the 2024 USA Hockey Dave Peterson Goaltender of the Year Award. Just an incredible season. He’s committed to Western Michigan University after de-committing from Northern Michigan University and is set to start playing this fall.
Carter George
Carter George was the Kings’ second-round pick from this year’s draft and has the potential to be a great goalie. He has a Hlinka Gretzky Cup Gold Medal, OHL First All-Rookie Team, OHL Third All-Star Team, ECT. He’ll be playing for Owen Sound of the OHL and looks to be another promising goalie in a prospect pool that is nearly as good enough, if not better when the Kings had Jonathan Quick and Jonathan Bernier coming up.
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