10/28 Preview – Foegele out with upper-body injury + Depth Ready To Step Up, Armia’s Value, Malott Expected In

TODAY’S MATCHUP: The final game of a five-game roadtrip is upon us, as the Kings look to turn a good trip into a great trip in San Jose this evening.

HEAD-TO-HEAD: Among players expected to play tonight for the Kings, defenseman Brandt Clarke and forward Alex Laferriere led the way last season against the Sharks with a goal and two assists each from three games played versus San Jose. Defenseman Cody Ceci was a member of the Sharks during all three games last season and was a +1 in total, as he averaged a team-high 21:34 in time on ice.

KINGS VITALS: The Kings held a full-team morning skate today at SAP Center following yesterday’s team off day in San Jose.

After Anton Forsberg had the net on Sunday in Chicago, goaltender Darcy Kuemper was off the ice first this morning, making him the expected starter between the pipes this evening in San Jose. Kuemper has made 20 appearances against the Sharks throughout his NHL career, posting a 9-5-4 with a .910 save percentage and a 2.71 goals-against average.

No line rushes today, despite the full skate, so showing last game’s lines for reference –

Tonight’s @LAKings Line Rushes –

Kuzmenko – Kopitar – Kempe
Fiala – Byfield – Laferriere
Foegele – Danault – Moore
Armia – Turcotte – Perry

Dumoulin – Doughty
Edmundson – Clarke
Anderson – Ceci

Forsberg
Kuemper

— Zach Dooley (@DooleyLAK) October 26, 2025

Forward Warren Foegele did not skate today and will not play tonight against the Sharks. Foegele “will miss some time” with an upper-body injury, per Jim Hiller, after he went into the boards in the first period of the game in Chicago, but Hiller wasn’t certain on exactly how long he might be out. My expectation would be for forward Joel Armia to get the bump in Foegele’s place, while forward Jeff Malott checks back in after he was a scratch during the past two games. Should the Kings pursue or need to make any additional changes, forward Samuel Helenius and defenseman Jacob Moverare remain options to enter in.

SHARKS VITALS: After losing its first six games of the season, San Jose has now won two of its last three, including a 6-5 win over Minnesota last time out.

Per Max Miller of NHL.com, here’s how the Sharks lined up last time out versus Minnesota –

#SJSharks lines in warmup:
Toffoli-Celebrini-Smith
Eklund-Wennberg-Kurashev
Graf-Misa-Gaudette
Goodrow-Dellandrea-Reaves

Orlov-Liljegren
Ferraro-Iorio
Dickinson-Desharnais

Askarov

— Max Miller (@Real_Max_Miller) October 26, 2025

Forward Macklin Celebrini enters tonight’s action on a four-game scoring streak and ranks third in the NHL in total scoring with 15 points (6-9-15) in the early stages of the 2025-26 season. Forward Michael Misa, San Jose’s top selection, second overall, in the 2025 NHL Draft, scored his first career NHL goal in Sunday’s win over Minnesota. Misa has three points (1-2-3) in five games played so far this season.

Storyline Of The Day – Next Player Up
There’s the ole’ cliché.

The injury for Warren Foegele is a tough one, no doubt. Foegele hasn’t been firing at last season’s pace just yet but he’s a worker and someone who can bring teammates into the game.

“Foegs is a big piece for the team, works well, defends well, checks well, brings a lot of speed, strong on pucks, can get some goals as well, so obviously a big loss there,” forward Phillip Danault said. “Obviously a big loss there, but we’ve got some guys who can step up.

The Kings are definitely better equipped to handle a top-nine absence than they’ve been in the past.

As Danault said, there are guys who can step up.

“I would hope so,” Hiller said of being better equipped than in previous years to handle the loss of a top-nine forward. “I think that was part of Ken’s plan this summer is adding some more veteran depth to our team and you’re seeing it.”

Joel Armia has acquitted himself very well in his early tenure as a King and will likely be the biggest beneficiary here, at least to start. He’s got probably the strangest two-game goal streak we’ve seen in a long time, after he banked one from below the goal line off a defenseman’s skate and in against Nashville, followed by nearly missing an empty net from inside the crease in Chicago. Both went in, though, and that’s all that counts.

Nevertheless, Armia has six points (2-4-6) from 10 games played as a King. He trails only Adrian Kempe in 5-on-5 scoring and he actually leads the team in 5-on-5 points per/60. He came to Los Angeles touted as a good penalty killer and he has been. Armia is the only regular penalty killer up front who has yet to be on the ice for a power-play goal against. Even crazier, he’s been on the ice for six scoring chances for, compared to six against. While shorthanded. That’s pretty wild.

His 5-on-5 play, though, was probably undersold. Always been a role player throughout his career but he looks pretty natural playing higher in the lineup and he seems to play a complementary style that could work with most players.

“We talked about him a little bit in training camp and preseason and I think everybody’s come to the same conclusions, he’s just a really smart player,” Hiller said of Armia. “He plays all situations, power play included, and can make plays. He’s done a good job peeling pucks off the wall, evading people, finding people, he’s got himself open in the slot for three or four shots that have gone over the net, so there’s definitely offensive instincts there. A lot of the Finnish players, they understand play without the puck, that’s probably one of their strengths, so he’s got that covered, but there’s definitely some offensive upside for him as well.”

I’d also like to see some additional shifts for Alex Turcotte, but with that needs to come defensive responsibility. Turcotte had neutral-zone turnovers in Nashville and Chicago that led to goals against and he’s been on the ice for a team high 3.52 goals against, per/60. However, those plays aside, I think he’s played well. Lots of speed and energy, he’s been shifty along the boards and he hasn’t shied away from puck battles, despite being a smaller player. With Turcotte on the ice, the Kings are controlling more than 60 percent of shot attempts and more than 63 percent of scoring chances, both of which lead the team. As those turnovers get cleaned up, I think he’ll earn more minutes.

“I talked to Turc this morning and he’s played really well, no problems,” Hiller said. “I mean, he’s had a couple tough bounces and we can do a better job of keeping that out of our net at the same time, too. We like his game, no problem. In Chicago late, we’re protecting a lead, he didn’t as much ice time as probably he wanted, but we start fresh tonight and away he goes.”

That doesn’t even mention Corey Perry, who has also integrated himself well. I think Perry will earn shifts all season throughout the lineup. He’s a plug and play guy. The Kings will likely try and manage his minutes over a long season but they know what he’s about. He’ll play on the power play and he’ll continue to get his time 5-on-5 too. I’d expect to see him up in the lineup for shifts here and there on most nights.

TLDR, the Kings have options here. Might not be a linear solution with Foegele out, but they haven’t been this well equipped to handle the absence in past years. Now, they should be, which makes things easier.

3 To Watch For –
– So, Armia is the only regular forward on the penalty kill who has yet to be on the ice for a goal against. But there’s also one Kings defenseman who can say the same thing.

Cody Ceci.

The Kings have eased Ceci in on the penalty kill a bit as he’s learned the system, but one of the reasons for targeting him was that they felt he would be a strong penalty killer with the Kings. Having a right-shot penalty killer on the blueline is helpful and he’s seen his SHTOI go up over the last few games in particular.

Those are the minutes Ceci should be eating up. The grinding, dirty minutes while shorthanded. Should help spare Drew Doughty a bit in that area, with Hiller expressing a desire to scale him back a bit overall, while also freeing up Brandt Clarke to ideally play in more offensive situations, and more 5-on-5 situations overall. Ceci isn’t the top option yet, with Mikey Anderson and Joel Edmundson used more regularly. But as he continues to settle in, don’t be surprised to see him continue to play more on the PK as he goes.

– So, if Armia is expected to go up, then it’s Jeff Malott who is expected to come in.

In talking with Hiller this morning, Malott didn’t do anything to come out of the lineup, but when Corey Perry was ready to go, his body of work certainly earned his spot in the lineup. It was a tough one for Malott, who started the season pretty strongly after his excellent preseason.

“Maller didn’t play his way out of the lineup, let’s be clear,” Hiller said. “He had a terrific preseason, start to the regular season, everybody’s happy with him. He brings probably a little bit more of a physical edge to us that we that we don’t have, which is important on different nights, more important on different nights. We’re completely comfortable [with Malott] and Sammy [Helenius], we know what Sammy can do. He’s the odd man out right now, but he’s played a lot of good hockey for us. It’s just keeping your spirits up and be ready to play when called upon.”

Malott, Turcotte and Perry looked pretty comfortable in Dallas and if they go that way again tonight, so it should be pretty seamless on that front.

– Lastly, Insiders, no need to beat around the bush.

The Kings lost in San Jose twice last season including an absolute shellacking in November, a 7-2 final. That was often pointed to as the game that turned around their season. Kevin Fiala was scratched for sleeping through his alarm, missing a pre-game team meeting. San Jose was among the league’s worst teams at that time and the Kings lost by five goals.

The next time out, the Kings beat league-leading Winnipeg 4-1 at home and took off from there, finding their stride throughout December. Little bit less dire here this time around, with the Kings riding some positive momentum coming in. But still. Underestimating San Jose by record would be a grave mistake.

What’s the key to success tonight?

“Play Boring”

Little cheeky there from Anze Kopitar, with a smile. As he elaborated, it’s about playing the way the Kings like to play, limiting time and space, “smothering” skill plays and then creating some offense themselves.

Kings and Sharks, 8 PM start tonight in San Jose to close out the trip. The late start is a part of ESPN’s “Frozen Frenzy”, with all 32 clubs in action tonight and start times staggered by 15-30 minutes per game. Kings with a chance at a very successful trip with a win tonight, after collecting points in the previous four games.