If you went into the NHL Draft with one, main area of strength within the Kings prospect pool, I think most would have agreed that strength was in goal.
With Erik Portillo pushing for an NHL backup job and three young goaltending prospects in the wings, the Kings pool was certainly strong between the pipes, both in terms of quality and quantity. As Hampton Slukynsky and Carter George get set to begin their professional careers on a full-time basis this fall, with Petteri Rimpinen in a starting role in Finland’s top men’s professional division, the Kings entered the NHL Draft in a great place in goal, with all three right on schedule.
So then. Why did they choose to spend another mid-round draft pick on a goaltender?
Simple. So that history does not repeat itself.
“In the past, we’ve skipped over goalies, partially due to having Jones, Quick and Bernier and partially because if we drafted guys, they told us they wouldn’t come or they wouldn’t sign, Frederik Andersen told us that,” Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Yannetti said. “So, you get lulled into this false sense of security that your goaltending pipeline is so deep that you stop drafting goalies and then you get the situation we had a few years ago. I do like the idea of drafting a goalie every year. Every other year, I think it’s a smart strategy. Even though our prospect pool was deep, I think it made sense to continue that, continue building from strength with strength.”
The Kings once had a similar embarrassment of riches, if you will. Jonathan Quick, Jonathan Bernier and Martin Jones were all solid goaltending prospects who all had success in the NHL. The embarrassment of riches is what made Andersen tell the Kings he wouldn’t sign, as Yannetti has detailed. In being open and honest, Andersen was clear that he didn’t want to enter into a four-way competition. So, even though the Kings correctly identified the right guy, it didn’t make sense to make that pick, considering that there is only one net in the NHL.
Quick was obviously the most successful. He’s the greatest goaltender in Kings history and won two championships. Bernier and Jones had good careers as well, though, spread out among a few different organizations, including Los Angeles.
What happened, though, was that with Quick in net, for so long at such a high level, the Kings got away from investing in their goaltending pipeline. Starting in 2010, the Kings only drafted three goaltenders over a seven-year stretch. Think about where the Kings were in 2010. Quick had just played 72 games in the NHL. Bernier turned in a dazzling AHL season with the Manchester Monarchs, winning the AHL’s Best Goaltender Award that season. The following season, Bernier was called up to the NHL and Jones turned in a stout AHL season in Manchester. Three goaltenders, all developing well, all 25 or younger.
Fast forward, though, and as Quick eventually entered the back-end of his career, both Bernier and Jones had already left the organization. The Kings were staring at not just a weakened pipeline of drafted players in goal but really, not much of a pipeline at all. They kept things afloat by acquiring Jack Campbell via trade but eventually, they needed to restock the system from the ground up.
Over the last several seasons, they’ve been able to do that. The Kings have drafted a goaltender four years running and what was once a weakness has become a strength. As such, the Kings built on that strength by selecting goaltender Yegor Rybkin in the third-round of the 2026 NHL Draft, one of 11 picks the organization made overall. You might wonder why the investment but internally, it really wasn’t a question as to whether the Kings would take a goaltender to keep the pipeline going and growing.
“We were at a point where our goalie chain was almost obsolete and we had to fix it,” Kings Director of Goaltending Bill Ranford said. “We’ve been very fortunate, we got Hampton and then obviously Carter and then Rimpinen and all three guys played at the World Juniors a few years back. We’re excited. It’s better than having none. Obviously, at some point we need one of these guys to work out. We have Portillo and then the young Rybkin that we just drafted this year. We’re finally in a good place. Now it’s up to one of these guys to grab it.”
In Yegor Rybkin, the Kings added two things to the mix.
The first was a very good age distribution in the goaltending pipeline. The Kings have Portillo at 25, Slukynsky at 21, George and Rimpinen at 20, Rybkin at 18. That part of the process is important. In some ways, having George and Slukynsky both turning pro at the same time presents its own problems, which is why everyone is happy for Rimpinen to continue to play in a good situation in Finland. As noted, there is only one net, so having both George and Slukynsky in Ontario, as well as potentially Portillo does present some logistical challenges. With Rybkin set to play in the QMJHL next season and only 18-years-old, he can develop at his own rate before the Kings potentially look to advance him say a couple of years down the line.
The second is Rybkin’s size and stature, which you cannot miss when he is on the ice. The Kings have never been an organization to overlook smaller goaltenders, with George and Slukynsky prime examples. It’s not recent, either, as Quick and Bernier fit the bill there as well. In Rybkin, though, the Kings drafted a completely different goaltender. He’s massive. At development camp, it looked as if he might stretch out of his jersey, Incredible Hulk style. He’s a different style and build than the Kings have right now and that’s something that everyone took note of.
“He skates better than we thought and the size – we’re not surprised with that, everybody knew that already – but we weren’t as sure about athleticism, we saw it on display [at development camp] we saw it on display in our goalie drills,” Ranford added. “It just gives us another option. We haven’t had a guy that big here, so it’s going to be exciting for our group to work with him.”
As Ranford said, the Kings need one of these guys to seize the net, in time. It’s not likely to be this year. How often do you see 20-year-old goaltenders seize the net in the NHL? Doesn’t really happen. However, in time, depth is great, but there is only one net. The Kings need someone to become the guy long term. Ideally, they are able to have multiple players in that mix pan out and then you have options. You also have decisions, in terms of potential asset management.
That’s for the future, though.
Entering this season, the Kings have their top three goaltenders by NHL experience all with one-year remaining on their contracts. That’s Porillo, behind Darcy Kuemper and Anton Forsberg. Slukynsky and George, while highly thought of, have a combined four professional games to their names. That creates a ton of storylines and thoughts heading into training camp. Typically, you need five goaltenders in a season. Kuemper has missed time due to injury multiple times in each of his two seasons here and he’s now 36. Forsberg is 33. Odds are, all five will have a part to play, assuming no movement between now and opening night. In any event, the Kings are in a far stronger position today than they’ve been in a long time. Lessons learned in that department.
Ranford on Slukynsky and George beginning their professional careers on a full-time basis this season
It’s never easy, the American Hockey League is a really good league. I think we’ve got two pretty mature individuals in Hampton and Carter, so we’re excited, it’s going to be a really good opportunity for them. Any time you turn pro, you’re always going to have those bumps in the road and it’s just how well they handle it. I think it’s huge that Carter got in two years ago and then Hampton this year. To have that experience of what AHL hockey at a key time is going to be like, both guys handled it very well. We’re excited, I’m sure they’re excited, but we know it’s going to be a long year for them, that’s kind of the way that first year pro goes. There’s a lot of adjustments you have to make, they’re going to be living on their own, making their own meals and doing their own laundry. It’s going to be big change.
Ranford on Petteri Rimpinen and his development playing in Finland
We’ve been fortunate, just due to the fact that Rimpinen, in his first year pro, he took over the starting job and then held on to it again last year, so that gives us a little bit of flexibility. If he can get another good year pro under his belt, then maybe then we look at whether it makes sense to bring him over or keep allowing him to grow his game [in Finland]. We’ve got to give him props. He’s been in the army since the end of the season and has only skated a few times and came out here and he was a little rusty to start, but wow, just from day one to day four, just a big difference, and that’s hard to do. He wasn’t doing any hockey training. I think three days ago, they did 100-kilometer hike with ruck sacks and then he got on a plane two days later. So, you’ve got to give him a lot of credit for coming here, no excuses, he just came out here and competed.
Yannetti on Yegor Rybkin and the tools that led to the Kings drafting him
Our goalie guys thought that this was someone who they really wanted to work with. He’s raw, but they like some of those foundational elements. They love the fact that when you have a big guy, especially at a young age, there’s a lot of holes in terms of presentation and when this kid moved or when he did things, there weren’t as many holes. Now, he’s going to have to clean up his skating, which is no surprise for a 6-6 guy. He’s going to have to clean up some of his movement things, which is normal, but in ranking the guys at that [Gold Star NHL Pre-Draft] camp and looking at them, there were a few guys at the camp that they really wanted to work with and Rybkin was one of them. The fact that he speaks excellent English certainly won’t hurt him in a development standpoint and the goaltending pipeline allows us to – I don’t want to say take a swing, because I don’t think you cross your fingers and say a prayer – there’s a lot of foundational elements that we liked. If we were going pick at 86, that would have been the pick. We were fortunate enough to get an offer, move back and pick up one more spot and still get him and some of the risk is taken out as well, because our goalie prospect pool is so deep.
