The Los Angeles Kings are down to 23 players, the NHL maximum. Erik Portillo, Taylor Ward, and Scott Perunovich were reassigned to the Ontario Reign on Sunday night. Otto Salin was parked on the injured non-roster list. Opening Night is Wednesday, September 30, at Ball Arena against the Colorado Avalanche on TNT, and the last piece of preseason math is finally done.
InfanityTV has already covered the cut to 29, the Utah and Anaheim early exhibitions, and the Empire Classic. Monday’s Kings beat is the finished product: a 6–2 Crypto.com Arena finale, a camp that Peter Laviolette finally got to see as one group, and the 23-man decisions that shape how this team opens a rematch of last spring’s playoff series.
Sunday Night Cleaned Up the Roster
Pro Hockey Rumors reported that Portillo, Ward, and Perunovich were sent to Ontario after Ward and Perunovich cleared waivers earlier Sunday. Salin, a 2022 fifth-rounder in his second North American season, was placed on injured non-roster. With those moves, Los Angeles hit the 23-player limit ahead of Monday’s deadline.
Portillo’s demotion closes one of camp’s more interesting storylines. The 26-year-old Michigan product is a pending Group VI unrestricted free agent in his final year of waiver-exempt status and has one NHL start on his résumé, from 2024-25. He posted a .907 save percentage and 2.45 goals-against average with an 18-7-4 record in 30 AHL games last season, but Ontario already has high-end prospects Carter George and Hampton Slukynsky waiting. Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg open the year as the NHL tandem.
Ward’s cut was more surprising. The undrafted 6-foot-2 forward scored three goals and seven points in 36 NHL games last season and earned regular looks on the fourth line. Perunovich, a Hobey Baker winner in 2020, arrived in free agency after posting 9-40–49 in 64 AHL games with Utah’s affiliate last year and never cracked an NHL lineup. Both will be expected to produce for the Reign.
Kevin Fiala remains on the NHL roster but is not expected for Opening Night as he continues to recover from a left leg fracture sustained at the Olympics in February. The Kings could still place him on injured reserve to free another roster spot if they prefer to carry a different body for Colorado.
Saturday’s Finale Finally Looked Like a Real Team
The Kings closed the exhibition schedule with a 6–2 win over Anaheim at Crypto.com Arena on Saturday afternoon, and Laviolette made clear afterward why that game mattered more than a preseason box score usually should. “It’s been so broken up in the first three games,” he said. “It was actually good that it’s just exhibitions… to put it together against, for the most part, their live lineup, and what could be our live lineup.”
Anaheim scored first through Nikita Nesterenko, and Beckett Sennecke later put the Ducks ahead 2–1 on the power play. Los Angeles answered with Scott Laughton, Adrian Kempe’s first preseason goal, a power-play finish from Mats Zuccarello, a pair from Alex Turcotte, and a late Erik Haula tap-in. Turcotte and Drew Doughty each finished with three points.
Kempe called it a “good performance by everybody” from the top of the lineup to Kuemper in net. He also noted that the power play looked better after “a horrendous practice” Friday and that having Zuccarello back on the unit was a clear upgrade. Zuccarello had spent earlier camp days in a red non-contact jersey; Saturday was his first exhibition game as a King.
Turcotte, Zuccarello, and the Middle Six
Laviolette singled out Turcotte as a player who used camp to show what he can do. “I think he’s worked really hard in camp to show what he could do,” the coach said. “He’s always been a highly-skilled player and basically, it’s training camp, it’s an opportunity for people to show what they can do.” Turcotte’s two goals and three-point night against Anaheim make him a live candidate for second-line center minutes if the Kings want production and pace in the middle six.
Zuccarello’s debut also mattered. Laviolette praised his hockey IQ and skill, especially for a player who had been limited earlier in camp. Combined with new pieces like Artemi Panarin and Erik Haula, and the return of Corey Perry, the Kings have more veteran forward depth than they did a year ago — one reason Ward became expendable.
Defenseman Joel Edmundson did not play Saturday and was listed as day-to-day. Laviolette said he thinks “it’s going to be fine,” but health on the blue line is still a Monday storyline as the Avalanche rematch approaches.
What Opening Night in Colorado Means
Wednesday’s game is not a soft opener. The Avalanche eliminated the Kings in the playoffs last spring, and the rematch opens the 2026-27 season nationally on TNT. Puck drop is 8:00 p.m. MDT (7:00 p.m. PT). Los Angeles then returns home for an ESPN national broadcast against the Florida Panthers on October 6.
For more on how the Kings framed Saturday as a dress rehearsal, revisit our look at the cut to 29 and the Crypto.com finale.
The practical questions for Monday’s practice at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo are specific: Does Fiala go on IR? Is Edmundson ready for Colorado? Which fourth-line and third-pair combinations survive the Avalanche scheduling? And does Turcotte keep the second-line center look that Laviolette floated after Saturday?
Monday’s 11 a.m. PT practice is also the first chance to see whether Laviolette layers a different third-line look once Turcotte’s role is clearer. The coach hinted Saturday that locking Turcotte into a productive middle-six spot would allow him to “layer something into a third line that can be used in a different way.” That could mean more checking minutes for Haula, Laughton, or Joel Armia, or a more specialized matchup group against Colorado’s top unit. Either way, the Avalanche rematch will not wait for another exhibition to sort it out.
From Camp Chaos to a Real Lineup
For three weeks the Kings looked like every other NHL club in September — half the lineup one night, the other half the next, power-play units that never shared the ice. Saturday fixed that. Sunday’s demotions finished the roster math. Monday is the first full practice for a group that already knows it is Opening Night’s group.
Preseason records do not hang banners. Camp clarity does. The Kings have 23 names, a 6–2 finale that looked like the system Laviolette wants, and a Wednesday night in Denver against the team that ended their last postseason. That is the story heading into Opening Night.
