The Manitoba Junior Hockey League season is around the corner and teams will be hitting the ice as training camps get underway.

Prior to training camp, the Kings will host their annual skills and development camp for U9 and up age groups.

Kings head coach and general manager Doug Hedley said they have 68 players registered for the skills camp this year, which will include two on-ice sessions per day and new athletic therapist, strength coach and equipment manager Haley Choma will be in charge of the dryland training.

Assistant coach Brad Dupasquier will be in charge of the personal development, which will consist of a 45-minute session.

“We’re here for basically, most of the day. It should be a fun week,” Hedley said.

The Kings will hit the ice for camp beginning, Friday, with the JoFo Cup intrasquad game slated for Sept. 3, at 1 p.m.

Close to 50 players will be in camp vying for a spot on the final roster.

The 50 players will be divided into three teams, with each team going through a skill session and three games.

Hedley feels there is a good group of young forwards coming in that has some speed and skill, as well as compete level.

“We’re looking at a very competitive camp,” Hedley said.

Defenceman Nicholas Hatton and forward Alex Senf were both drafted by teams in the North American Hockey League and will try their luck south of the border.

To replace the loss of Hatton, the Kings on Friday acquired 19-year-old defenceman Naaman Hofer from the Winnipeg Freeze in exchange for second and sixth round draft picks in 2024.

“We think Hofer is a real good fit to replace Hats, to fill that gap,” Hedley said. “We just think we have real good depth on the back end with (Anthony) Bax, (Aidan) Brook and (Nolan) Wickham coming back. And we’ve added a couple of American kids. Aidan Murray was real good in the prospects camp. So we’re really looking forward to our back end with Sam Boldt coming back. So we’ve got a good backend core to start.”

Cole Sheffield will return in goal and there are several prospects who will be battling for the back up position. Veteran Marko Belak will not return.

“Our goaltending is going to be solid. Our backend is really solid to start. Obviously, we’re happy with our forwards, but they’re going to be a little bit of a younger group that we feel can get better and better. They’re starting with some great speed and skill,” Hedley said.

Much like the past couple of seasons, the offence will be scoring by committee, led by the defence.

But Hedley feels with the players back from last season, the Kings will have a good mix of vets and prospects coming in to complement the vets.

Hedley is looking forward to getting back on the ice.

“Summer never seems long enough, but once you get guys starting to roll back into town, you get the excitement going and the adrenaline running,” he said.

Hedley added to his staff with the hiring of Rick Freese as an assistant coach. Hedley said Freese approached him with a desire to learn.

“And we’re happy to have him aboard. He can basically be used with us in practices during the week. He can make an hour every day. So he’s going to there to help, not only me up front with the forwards, but also Chad (Facey) back on the backend,” he said. “Right now, Brad has got a full-time job in Ebb and Flow. So he’ll be teaching in Ebb and Flow, but he’ll be here two days a week for practices and video. So it will be good having Rick on the ice with us and giving us a hand along with Dan Keeping. The staff is all back and we’re looking forward to having Rick and bringing some energy.”

The Kings open the preseason, Sept. 5, when they host Neepawa at 7:30 p.m.