Defenseman Willie Mitchell skated with his teammates Thursday morning and packed his bags for a trip to Denver later in the afternoon. He said he’s in the Kings’ lineup for Friday’s exhibition game against the Colorado Avalanche. He’ll pull on a Kings sweater for the first time since the decisive Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2012. He sat out the Kings’ first three exhibitions after missing all of last season because of a knee injury.

“I’m playing for sure, so I’m looking forward to it,” the 36-year-old defenseman said. “I’m not looking forward to the thin air (of Denver), but after the road I traveled, I’d take that any day of the week. I’m excited, really excited to go. Just excited to get into game action.”

Mitchell didn’t know who his defense partner might be.