Plenty of fresh faces left on Kings roster

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The Kings trimmed their roster to 22 players today, leaving five rookies on the team heading into the season opener Saturday in San Jose.

The Kings have until noon Wednesday to turn in their final rosters, but barring any late injuries or waiver transactions, it looks like forwards Wayne Simmonds, Oscar Moller, Matt Moulson and Brian Boyle and defenseman Drew Doughty will make the team. Doughty, who won’t turn 19 until December, was the second overall draft pick in June.

Among the rookies, only Boyle, a 6-foot-7, 252-pound center, and Moulson, a left wing, have NHL experience. Boyle played eight games for the Kings last season, producing four goals and an assist. Moulson totaled five goals and four assists in 22 games for the Kings last season.

Here’s the updated roster:

Forwards: Derek Armstrong, Anze Kopitar, Brad Richardson, Kyle Calder, Dustin Brown, Alexander Frolov, Michal Handzus, Jarret Stoll, Raitis Ivanans, Oscar Moller, Wayne Simmonds, Matt Moulson, Brian Boyle.

Defensemen: Matt Greene, Jack Johnson, Sean O’Donnell, Denis Gauthier, Tom Preissing, Peter Harrold, Drew Doughty.

Goaltenders: Erik Ersberg, Jason LaBarbera.

To get under the NHL roster limit, the Kings sent defenseman Alec Martinez, right wings Teddy Purcell and Kevin Westgarth and goalie Jonathan Quick to the team’s American Hockey League affiliate in Manchester, N.H., and returned defenseman Thomas Hickey to the Western Hockey League.

Quite a contrast to the veteran roster put together down in Anaheim, but then again, it’s pretty obvious the Kings are at a different stage right now. Kind of like, say, the Clippers and the Lakers.

-- Dan Arritt