Development camp roster announced

This year’s roster will feature 40 players, including 14 returnees and all 11 draft selections from this past weekend. The roster will also feature draft picks from the 2023, 2024, and 2025 draft classes. In addition to the roster always featuring draft selections from the previous three or four drafts, there are always camp invites. The 2026 development camp roster includes 13 camp invites.

22 forwards, 14 defesnemen, and four goaltenders will take the ice this week. The Kings also announced that camp will be from Monday, June 29th, to Thursday, July 2nd. The last day is usually reserved for a scrimmage.

Unfortunately, I won’t be able to attend the development camp this year. However, here are some notes on the roster to prepare you for this week’s development camp if you plan on attending.

Goaltending

If you love goalies, you’re going to see four solid ones. Highlighting this area are Hampton Slukynsky and Carter George, both of whom are turning pro and will see time with the Ontario Reign this year. Petteri Rimpinen will also return for his second year, and Kings fans will get a look at the giant 6-foot-7 Yegor Rybkin for the first time.

All 2025 & 2026 draft picks in action

If you didn’t get a chance to attend development camp last year, you will get your chance to see the 2025 draft class. That class is highlighted by both Henry Brzustewicz and Vojtěch Čihař. Both of those players could be on the Reign this year, too, so if you don’t see them at development camp, you could see them then. And, of course, you’ll get a look at Elton Hermansson and the rest of the 2026 class.

Jack Sparkes is the only player from the 2022 draft class

I was surprised to see any player from the 2022 draft class on the development camp roster. Jack Sparkes, a 6-foot-8 defenseman from Clarkson University (NCAA), has a long way to go to make the NHL. It won’t be hard to miss him on the ice with his size.

Ryan Conmy

Ryan Conmy was the star of training camp back in 2023. He made an immediate impact by scoring goals with his great shot deception or by having a nose for the puck and redirecting pucks past the netminder in scrimmages. Conmy is entering his senior year of college and his second season at Boston College, after spending the previous two years at the University of New Hampshire.

Conmy battled injuries the previous two years and will look to regain his scoring touch at BC this upcoming year. The Kings hold Conmy’s draft signing rights until August 15th, 2027.

Camp invites are important, too

While everyone is there to see the draft picks, camp invites are also important. In 2023, forward Ben Steeves was a camp invite and made an impression on me. Although the Kings didn’t sign him to a contract, nor did he sign an AHL contract with the Reign, he returned to the University of Minnesota Duluth for the 2023-24 campaign and eventually signed an AHL contract with the Charlotte Checkers and blossomed into a 20-goal scorer this season.

Another few examples are Kenta Isogai, Grant Slukynsky, and Nate Corbet. Isogai was invited to the development camp and rookie faceoff tournament last year and earned himself a two-year AHL contract after making an impression. Grant, Hampton’s older brother, was a development camp invitee last year and earned himself a one-year entry-level contract for the 2026-27 campaign after his season at Western Michigan University (NCAA) ended. Corbet, a defenseman who was teammates with Čihař and Will Sharpe with the Kelowna Rockets (WHL), is another returnee for the Kings’ development camp.

Camp invites always give 110% because they are looking to make an impression and earn a professional contract either with the Kings or elsewhere.