Players hoping to crack the lineup of the Dauphin Kings have one final week to catch the eye of the coaching staff.
After winning one of three preseason games last week, the Kings are down to 24 players left in camp - 14 forwards, seven defencemen and three goaltenders.
Kings head coach and general manager Bryan Kromm said there may be more moves to be made after a home-and-home with the Neepawa Titans to end the preseason.
“There’s a lot of guys that still have to prove themselves this week. So it’s up in the air right now what we’re going to do,” he said.
After scoring a 5-2 win over the Northern Manitoba Blizzard, Aug. 31, in Dauphin, the Kings dropped a home-and-home with the Waywayseecappo Wolverines, 3-1 in Dauphin on Friday and 4-2, Saturday, in Waywayseecappo.
Kromm said the team experienced some growing pains as he incorporates some new strategies in terms of structure.
“It’s going to take a while for our guys to adjust to that. But we saw some good things out there, so we’ve just got to keep building and moving forward with stuff,” he said.
“We’re throwing a lot at the guys right now, so there’s a lot of growing pains and trying to figure out a lot of teaching stuff. Obviously, it’s a brand new team, so we’re trying to implement some things that might take a while for the guys to grasp.”
Local players Forrest Karlson and Noah Smigelsky returned to the team from the Western Hockey League.
The Kings will face the Titans, Wednesday, in Souris, with the rematch in Dauphin, Friday. Both games begin at 7 p.m.
Kromm said everybody is under the microscope right now and he will have some tough decisions to make after the final preseason game.
The Kings have only four 20-year-olds in camp - goaltender Bryson Yaschyshyn, defenceman Aiden Malone and forwards Kurtis Kinoshita and Dylan Miko.
Going with a more youthful team, Kromm said, was the plan going into camp.
“For me, I have to have the right 20-year-olds in my locker room in order to make it work. I just find that if you have a younger team, guys seem a little bit hungrier. It’s their first experience at junior hockey,” he said.
“Like I keep saying, there’s growing pains early on, but if we put our trust in our guys, by the back half of the season, we’ll be looking pretty good.”
When it comes to the final preseason contests, Kromm wants to see who can adapt to how the Kings are trying to play and who can’t.
“We’ve thrown a lot at them and we’re trying to see which guys grasp it and which guys can’t. That’s part of the evaluation process that we’re doing moving forward,” he said, adding he doesn’t know yet how many players he will carry into the season.
“We’ve just got to see how it goes this week,” he said.
Feeling the need for more of a veteran presence on the blueline, Kromm acquired 19-year-old defenceman Aidan Stewart from the Swan Valley Stampeders for a player development fee.
“So Aiden can hopefully help carry the mail for us,” he said.
Kings court: If Bryan Kromm’s surname sounds familiar, it’s for good reason. His grandfather Bobby Kromm coached the Winnipeg Jets to their first AVCO Cup championship in the World Hockey Association in 1976 and led the Jets to the league final the following year. He then left Winnipeg and joined the Detroit Red Wings, where he coached for three seasons. Bryan’s father, Richard Kromm, played parts of nine seasons in the NHL with the Calgary Flames and New York Islanders from 1983-84 to 1992-93.