LA Kings: The Goaltending Prospects

The LA Kings are looking for their future franchise goalie and have four goaltending prospects in the pipeline.

After the Jonathan Quick era came to an end last year, Los Angeles needed to start looking for their next future goalie. From Rogie Vachon to Quick. That is a huge gap between the two franchise goalies the organization has ever known. Cal Petersen was supposed to take the reins, but never panned out after he signed his three-year extension. Now, the Kings will be looking from within again and are hopeful that one of those four goalies in their system can be their franchise goalie for years to come.

In this segment, we will list all the goalies in the system and discuss the year they are having. Let’s get started!

Jacob Ingham

Age: 23

Jacob Ingham is the veteran of the goalie prospect group. Drafted in the sixth round in 2018, Ingham has spent the past five seasons in the Kings organization. He turned pro for the 2020-21 season and saw time in the AHL with the Ontario Reign and the ECHL in Greenville with the Swamp Rabbits. The following season saw him split time in the AHL and ECHL again with some struggles at the AHL level.

Unfortunately, he missed the entire 2022-23 season with a back injury, but the organization gave him another chance by giving him an AHL contract. Ingham started the year in Greenville by winning 11 of his first 13 starts in 14 games played (one relief appearance) and a .920 save percentage.

On December 16th, he got called to the Ontario Reign and recorded a .917 save percentage in six games before getting sent down to Greenville after the Reign signed Aaron Dell to a PTO (that has turned into a one-year deal as the backup).

Ingham continued his bounce-back season when he was re-assigned to the Swamp Rabbits and earned himself goalie of the week honors for February 19th to 25th. The LA Kings rewarded him by terminating his AHL contract and signing him to an NHL deal for the remainder of the season.

Ingham finished the season with a 2.57 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage in 34 games with Greenville, and a 2.71 goals-against average and a .917 save percentage in six games in Ontario. Unfortunately, he lost all four, three of them in overtime, of his playoff starts with Greenville and posted a 2.75 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage.

It was a great story for a goalie who battled his way back from injury and doubt to have the season he had, but I view Ingham as organizational depth at this point. It’s possible the Kings could bring him back and if they do I expect him to start the year in Ontario.

Juho Markkanen

Age: 22

I wasn’t high on Juho Markkanen when he was drafted in 2020 and I’m still standing by that. However, if there was one weakness in the Kings’ pipeline, at the time he was drafted, it was the goaltending position. I didn’t see any games in Liiga to judge him this year, but looking at his stats since he got drafted, they aren’t eye-popping. His save percentage in the previous two seasons has been under .895.

I will keep this one short and simple. I doubt we’ll see Markkanen in a Kings uniform. I don’t see them signing him by the June 1st deadline with other goalies ahead of him on the depth chart in the pipeline.

Erik Portillo

Age: 23

All eyes were on Erik Portillo this season. Rob Blake spent a third-round pick at last year’s trade deadline less than 24 hours after trading Quick. Portillo didn’t start the year as the starter in Ontario as veteran netminder David Rittich was tabbed as the starter by head coach Marco Sturm. Before Rittich was called up to the LA Kings, Portillo showed flashes of potential and what he needs to improve on. One area of improvement was the rebound control. If there was one notable thing to work on, that was one.

During a game in Ontario back in February, I asked Reign goalie coach, Adam Brown, about Portillo and his development. Game reads, structure, and rebound control were what popped up, and mentioned they have someone who tracks the advanced analytics of his rebound control. Let’s say the rebound control results weren’t great and something they were still working on with him. It did get better as the season went on.

After Rittich got called up to the Kings, Portillo got more playing time early on before he split time between the pipes with Aaron Dell the last two months of the season. He got the bulk of the starts in the final week of the season after Marco Sturm hinted they were hoping he would grab the number-one goalie spot for the Reign’s playoff run. For the season, Portillo finished sixth in goals-against average (2.50) and fourth in save percentage (.918) among qualified rookie netminders.

After being tabbed the number-one goalie for the Reign in their playoff run, Portillo took off and recorded the first shutout in Calder Cup playoff history for the Reign in Ontario’s 4-0 game two win over the Abbotsford Canucks in round two. After going 5-0 with stellar numbers through the first two rounds, Portillo’s numbers dipped in the Division Finals series against the Coachella Valley Firebirds (.833 save percentage in three games). He finished the playoffs with a 2.16 goals-against average and a .916 save percentage in eight games.

A great rookie season for Portillo who exceeded expectations. Now, what about next season? I know Portillo will be 24 years of age when next season starts and I am always cautious and don’t like teams rushing goalies. Look what happened with the Buffalo Sabres and Devon Levi this past season. The last thing an organization needs is rushing a goalie before they are ready. My prediction is Portillo will start the upcoming season in the AHL but as the organization’s number-three goalie. If any injuries happen to the goalies on the Kings, I would anticipate him getting called up or getting spot starts at some point to get his feet wet.

Hampton Slukynsky

Age: 18

Hampton Slukynsky was selected in the fourth round, 118th overall, by the LA Kings last summer. The 18-year-old spent the year in the USHL with the Fargo Force and led the league in wins (28), goals-against average (1.86), save percentage (.923), and shutouts (5). Those numbers carried over into the playoffs as the 18-year-old recorded nine wins and posted a 1.69 goals-against average, a .931 save percentage, and one shutout in 12 games as the Force won the Clark Cup.

Fargo was a stacked team but Slukynsky’s accomplishments shouldn’t be discredited. It’ll be interesting to see how he plays at the NCAA level for Northern Michigan University this upcoming season. Like Portillo, there is plenty to be excited about with Slukynsky and his development.

Time will tell if one of them will take the reins of being the franchise goaltender in the future.

Featured image credit: Mike Zitek/Ontario Reign  

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