LA Kings 2026-27 Season Player Previews: Sammy Helenius

In training camp this fall, the Los Angeles Kings have a position battle on the rise between centers Sammy Helenius and Alex Turcotte.

For the second time in as many seasons, Helenius played over half of the regular season games in the lineup for the Kings this past year. Helenius scored a career-high five goals, four assists, and nine total points in 53 games played this past regular season.

After he didn't make the opening-night roster for former head coach Jim Hiller and the Kings this past regular season, he became a regular contributor in the bottom-six forward group in the season's final few months.

Sammy Helenius 2025-26 player season recap

2025-26 season stats: 53 games played, 5 goals, 4 assists, 9 points, -6

2025-26 advanced stats: 13.2 shooting %, 13.2 5-on-5 shooting %, 1.3 points/60, 0.6 point shares, 0.5 WAR

2025-26 possession metrics: 48.0 CF%, 49.3 SCF%, 97.1 PDO, 51.0 HDCF%

Even though he only played around eight minutes per game, Helenius brought physicality, two-way effort, and forechecking to the fourth-line forward group this past season. In just 53 games played, Helenius registered 144 hits after he recorded 150 hits in 50 games played in the 2024-25 season.

In just over 100 career regular season games played, Helenius has posted 294 hits. He was a really consistent contributor on both ends of the ice.

While Helenius didn't post the biggest numbers in the offensive zone this past regular season, some of the underlying advanced metrics show he brought real value to the table for the Kings. He posted a 53.0 expected goals-for percentage and a 13.2 5-on-5 shooting percentage, despite having a 48.0% corsi-for percentage and 49.3 scoring chances for percentage (per Natural Stat Trick).

The biggest factor Helenius brought to the Kings was his physicality. Beyond registering 144 hits this past regular season, he also had 50 penalty minutes and six fighting majors.

With Helenius' size at 6-foot-6 and 225 pounds, he's one of the more imposing physical presences for a young bottom-six center in the Pacific Division.

Sammy Helenius 2026-27 Los Angeles Kings season preview

The Kings and general manager Ken Holland have proven their faith in Helenius' ability to be a quality bottom-six contributor with the forward group by handing him a contract extension recently. In this past December, Helenius received a two-year contract extension worth around $875K in average annual value (through the end of the 2027-28 season).

Helenius will be a restricted free agent at the end of his current contract in the 2028 offseason.

We have projected Helenius to compete with the likes of Turcotte and potentially Kenny Connors and Lane Pederson for the role as the fourth-line center going into this upcoming season. Our initial projection has the fourth-line forward group as Turcotte alongside wingers Corey Perry and Joel Armia.

That means Helenius is on the outside looking in our opening-night lineup projection going into training camp and the preseason this fall.

Helenius needs to prove that he can contribute more in the offensive zone while maintaining his physical presence on both ends of the ice this upcoming season. In 103 career games played over two seasons, Helenius has scored nine goals, seven assists, and 16 total points.

In a full 82-game regular season, Helenius would be on pace for right around seven or 10 goals and 20 total points. It would probably be considered a successful season if Helenius could average 10 minutes on the ice per night and reach double-digit goals and 20 total points.