The Kings have released their training camp roster, one that features plenty of players on tryout agreements. A total of 13 unaffiliated players will be taking part in camp with Los Angeles as they fill out an extended roster with the majority of their NHL roster in Australia for a pair of games against Arizona later this week.
Up front, Ryan Francis, Nathan Burke, Isaac Johnson, Sean Tschigerl, Ty Thorpe, Easton Armstrong, and Sam Alfaro will all be taking part. They’ll be joined by defensemen Max Coyle, Jacob Modry, Chase Pauls, Samuel Mayer, and Hunter Mayo, along with goaltender Jacob Oster.
Francis, Burke, and Johnson all topped last season at the AHL level with Laval, San Jose, and Manitoba, respectively. As for Tschigerl, Thorpe, and Alfano, they played at the CHL level with Calgary, Vancouver, and Erie. The first two are eligible to turn pro now while Alfano, being 19 until January, is ineligible to play in the minors this season. Armstrong, meanwhile, also was in major junior last year but has already committed to play with Fargo of the USHL in 2023-24.
As for the blueliners, Coyle and Modry played collegiately with Bowling Green State and SUNY-Plattsburgh. Modry is the son of long-time NHL blueliner Jaroslav Modry who spent parts of ten seasons with Los Angeles. Pauls, Mayer, and Mayo all played in the CHL with Lethbridge, Peterborough, and Red Deer. Pauls and Mayer are AHL-eligible but Mayo is not. Oster is also ineligible to play in the minors and is likely ticketed to return to OHL Oshawa.
For the majority of these players, they’ll be looking to land a contract with AHL Ontario, the Kings’ affiliate at that level or at least get an invite to their training camp. For the junior-only players, they’ll be hoping for an entry-level contract or to at least get on an NHL radar moving forward. It’s not often that a team brings in this many players on training camp tryouts but odds being odds, at least one or two of them will get an extended look beyond the next few weeks.
Why would you put Mayo on Oysters?