When Ken Holland has spoken about his vision to improving the Los Angeles Kings next season, he has spoken about adding to the roster through free agency or with a trade. However, he also emphasized the fact that improvements might have to come from players who were already on the roster; these are younger players who are ready to take that next step in their career:
"We’re trying to make a few tweaks to the roster. Part of this has got to be internal growth, some of the players that are here that are 21, 22, 23, we need them to take a step. It can’t all be about free agency or this big mega trade."
While free agency is still a few weeks away, and it could certainly change what the roster looks like, let's take a look at some players currently on the roster who might fall into this category and could help drive that internal growth.
5 LA Kings poised for bigger roles next season before free agency
Erik Portillo
The first player is someone who only has one career NHL game but it appears that he has a clear path to an NHL spot this upcoming season. Erik Portillo has spent the past two seasons on the Ontario Reign after the Kings acquired him from the Buffalo Sabres and in 63 games had a goals against average of 2.62 and a save percentage of .908.
He did get called up for one game earlier this past season but with Darcy Kuemper and David Rittich on the roster, there wasn't a path for him to move up. However, Rittich is set to be a free agent and after he struggled down the stretch, the Kings probably look to Portillo to be the backup.
This will be a big opportunity for Portillo and he realistically should get anywhere between 20-30 starts next season. If he does well, he could replace Kuemper as the starter down the road.