Practice 11.22 – Lizotte Skates Solo + Laferriere’s Play, McLellan on Thanksgiving Stat, Bjornfot Update

Back at it, Insiders!

The LA Kings returned to the ice today for a practice day at Toyota Sports Performance Center, coming off a team off day yesterday.

Today’s Kings lineup looked similar to what we saw in Arizona on Monday. Forward Blake Lizotte is not on the ice, with his timeline estimated somewhere between a day-to-day range and a 7-10 day range, as of the beginning of the week. Todd McLellan noted today that Lizotte did skate on his own today, without contact, but just being on the ice is a good sign. Still a bit too early to know whether or not Lizotte will be an option for either game this weekend – McLellan joked that if you asked Lizotte, he’d say he could play tomorrow – but hearing he skated is certainly a positive update.

“He skated today, which is a good sign,” McLellan said. “He wasn’t firing pucks or getting involved physically, but he did skate today.”

As for the group that was on the ice today, the Kings utilized 12 forwards, seven defensemen and two goaltenders during this morning’s skate. Didn’t see a ton of lineup stuff, though, so embedding last game’s alignment below, for reference –

Tonight's @LAKings Line Rushes –

Byfield – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Danault – Moore
Laferriere – Dubois – Kaliyev
Grundstrom – Lewis – Anderson-Dolan

Anderson – Doughty
Gavrikov – Roy
Englund – Spence

Copley
Talbot

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) November 21, 2023

Minus defenseman Jacob Moverare, who was the lone healthy scratch against the Coyotes on Monday evening, that’s the group we’ve got right now and that’s the group we saw in action in the victory over Arizona. Minus any changes in the foreseeable future, that’s the group we’ll see in the interim going forward.

The Kings have the flexibility to move a piece up or down here and there, if they so choose, but as things currently stand, the personnel is working itself into place nicely. There are certainly a couple of top performers with the AHL’s Ontario Reign right now, but with an NHL club that’s 11-3-3, winners of three straight games, there’s not a ton of need for change. We’ll continue to monitor Lizotte, continue to monitor how the group in Ontario plays and go from there.

Notes –
Loving Life-erriere
What a stretch of six periods it’s been for Kings forward Alex Laferriere.

Coming off the first healthy scratch of his NHL career on Thursday of last week, a move that the Kings viewed simply as a reset for a young player who’s been going full speed ahead for two months straight, Laferriere entered back in on Saturday against St. Louis with a clear roadmap of the areas he wanted to work on.

Straight out of the gates, we saw a confident young player, who despite playing with two, established veterans showed no hesitation in imposing his game, shooting the puck when it needed to be shot and moving it when he needed to be moved, not just moving it to defer to veteran players. While it’s not an exact science, those traits showed up in his shooting totals.

First 5 Games, Averages
5.4 Shot Attempts
3.0 Shots On Goal
2.6 Scoring Chances

Next 9 Games, Averages
2.7 Shot Attempts
1.2 Shots On Goal
1.7 Scoring Chances
*Numbers From Natural Stat Trick

Through those five games, Laferriere led the Kings in shot attempts and shots on goal. The dropoff is pretty explainable too. Energy and adrenaline are through the roof in your debut and when you’re playing as well as Laferriere was, there was really no lag in his game in that first stretch. As you settle into the longer grind of the NHL, though, have your first road trip, get used to a more intensive schedule, it’s hard to keep that same level up, especially for a player who played in more exhibition contests than most, between the NHL, AHL and Rookie Faceoff.

From the player’s point of view, he’s embraced the decision to sit out a game in a mature way, the right way.

“I think it was a good little reset, just to step back and assess my game,” he said. “I think once I got back in the lineup, I just tried to do the little things and get back to how I was playing at the beginning of the year and I think I’ve done that. I’m trying to be more assertive on the forecheck, just keep my pace up the whole game. I’m happy with how I’ve been playing.”

The results since he’s returned have been evident.

Combined over two games, nine shot attempts, five shots on goal and six scoring chances have been more in line with that first set of numbers. He’s beaten a goaltender, though it won’t count as a shot on goal as it hit the post, and he set up forward Phillip Danault for a Grade-A look in Arizona, a chance that Danault buried for an insurance marker.

Phil on point 🎯 pic.twitter.com/667AkXWj4Y

— LA Kings (@LAKings) November 21, 2023

It’s those types of plays – and we saw them against St. Louis on Saturday too – that are what the Kings are looking for from Laferriere. Todd McLellan has taken notice of a player who has responded the right way to the situation.

“It’s been a hell of six periods since he got to watch the game and take a rest,” McLellan said of his young forward. “The whole thing’s a learning process for him, but the fact that he’s responded the way he has is a real good sign for him personally, but also for us as a group.”

Laferriere has said a couple of times now that he feels empowered to play his game by what he’s being told by the coaching staff. Whether it’s from McLellan or Jim Hiller, who works more directly with the forwards, Laferriere plays with confidence, partly because confidence is being instilled in him. The Kings don’t want a player who is afraid to make a mistake, especially a young player who has a lot to offer.

“I think the coaching staff has done a great job of communicating the expectations and what they want us to have that confidence in and play our game,” Laferriere added. “They say that we’re here for a reason, they want us here for a reason and we’re all good players. They trust in our abilities and part of learning is making mistakes. Obviously you don’t want to make too many, but they definitely have the confidence in us to play our game.”

Good signs from number 78, with hopes that those strong signs continue moving forward.

Thanksgiving Talk

Tomorrow is a pretty significant benchmark in the NHL. 👀 pic.twitter.com/OKaFhjbEhH

— NHL Network (@NHLNetwork) November 22, 2023

The annual “teams in a playoff spot at Thanksgiving” note, linked above from NHL Network.

As noted in the graphic, slightly more than 3 out of 4 teams at Thanksgiving have held up in playoff spots at the end of the season, using a sample size dating back to the shortened 2012-13 season. Now, that obviously leaves right around 1 out of every 4, which would be four teams each season, that fall out of the playoff spot they hold on Thanksgiving. It’s been no fewer than 11 of 16 and no greater than 13 of 16. Two sides of that coin. It’s a trend that carries some weight, or it’s clear that there’s movement every season, so nothing is safe.

Todd McLellan fell on the side of the latter.

“Well, that means there’s 24.4% of teams that are out,” he noted. “I think this is a really good time of the year for media people to really get active with predictions and evaluate. We’re at the quarter point or whatever it might be and who’s winning awards, who’s doing that and we don’t really participate in that, we don’t look at it that way. We live in the moment. I couldn’t even tell you who’s in a wild-card spot right now, anything like that, we just play, try and get better every day and win as many games as we can. I think at the three-quarter polls, is maybe when we start paying a little more attention to it.”

The Kings are one of 16 teams in a playoff position today, sitting third in the Pacific Division by points and second by points percentage. Still though, for as terrific as the team has been in starting the season 11-3-3, the gap between the Kings in third and the Kraken in fourth is just six points. From the Kings to the first team out of a playoff spot is just seven points. With 65 games still to be played, that’s a tiny number, with a ton of variance to come throughout a long season.

Still much to be played out on the ice, with the expectation of not just keeping things rolling, but improving along the way. The Kings are focused on continuing to put points in the bank now. So far, so good in that department.

Bjornfot Update
Lastly, Insiders, the latest on defenseman Tobias Bjornfot, provided by the Reign last night.

pic.twitter.com/ZYD0tP54op

— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) November 22, 2023

Bjornfot took a hit into the boards during yesterday’s game in Coachella Valley, a hit that was called a five-minute major penalty. Bjornfot did not return to last night’s game against the Firebirds, the third game he played in during his conditioning loan. The Reign are next in action this weekend, with away games in San Jose on Friday and Saturday against the Barracuda. We’ll keep an eye on Bjornfot’s situation, but does not appear to be anything overly serious on the injury front, which is excellent news.

Without factoring in any injuries, Bjornfot would likely have been granted the two games this weekend as a part of his conditioning loan, which would be games four and five, as a part of a compact Reign schedule that made this a good time to give him some minutes at the AHL level. We’ll have to wait at least 24 hours to see how, if at all, last night’s situation impacts the timeline that was previously expected.

A morning practice day tomorrow for the Kings, before a pair of afternoon matinee games this weekend, against Anaheim and Montreal. Much more to follow this weekend for sure, with another story to follow here this evening!