Kenny Connors
Kenny Connors will open the 2026-27 season in the AHL, not on the Kings' NHL roster, positioned as the club's top center call-up option once regular-season injuries hit.
Role
Per LA Kings Insider's roster-cuts report (24 September 2026) and Mayor's Manor's same-day report on final camp cuts, Connors and fellow forward prospect Jared Wright were assigned to AHL Ontario as the Kings trimmed to their 23-man opening roster; Mayor's Manor stated the move was about waiver exemption and lack of a defined NHL role, not skill, and that both players are expected back in Los Angeles during the season. He is not slotted into a Kings line, power-play unit, or goalie mix because he is not currently on the NHL roster; LA Kings Insider's centers preview (3 September 2026) has Quinton Byfield, Erik Haula, Scott Laughton, Alex Turcotte, Samuel Helenius, Francesco Pinelli, and others ahead of Connors on the NHL center depth chart, with a Yardbarker training-camp preview (circa late August 2026) projecting him back as Ontario's third-line (or possibly second-line) center in the AHL and a call-up if the Kings suffer a center injury.
He is coming off a strong rookie professional season, with a Yardbarker preview crediting him with 15 goals and 26 assists for 41 points in 65 AHL games as Ontario's third-line center, plus a brief NHL debut stint in March 2026; he is waiver-exempt, which the Kings can use to shuttle him up whenever a forward or center is hurt, and beat coverage frames his path back to the NHL as a matter of when, not if.
As of the final roster cuts reported 24 September 2026, he has no defined NHL role and was sent down ahead of Opening Night, sitting behind a deep group of veteran and younger NHL centers (Byfield, Haula, Laughton, Turcotte, Helenius, Pinelli among others per LA Kings Insider's 3 September centers preview), meaning any NHL look this season depends entirely on an injury or a slump elsewhere on the depth chart rather than an earned everyday job.
Where analysts split
Broad agreement: no outlet disputes that he opens the season in the AHL as a waiver-exempt call-up candidate; the open question reporters flag is simply the circumstance and timing of his eventual recall (which center injury or opportunity brings him back), not whether he will start the year in Los Angeles.
Research confidence: reported. Outlooks are grounded in web search over current reporting and refreshed through the season.
Others at C
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