Things just continue to get better and better for Andre Lee over the past year.
From scoring his first NHL goal, to signing a two-year contract extension with the LA Kings, he’s now engaged to his longtime girlfriend and is even leading the Ontario Reign in goals — it’s all coming together quite nicely for the former college hockey standout at UMass Lowell.
This week, he’ll even add AHL All-Star to his growing resume.
Wednesday evening, Lee will participate in three events at the league’s annual All-Star Skills Competition, taking place in Rockford the night before the big game. He won’t waste any time either, as he’s scheduled for the first event, a Puck Control Relay. Later, he’s also one of the players listed for the fifth event of the night, Accuracy Shooting. To close out the night, he’ll be in the Breakaway Relay, where it’s already been announced he’ll square off against Providence goalie Michael DiPietro. Sounds interesting.
A full list of all participants in the AHL Skills Competition and the various events can be found here. Some of the names involved will be very familiar to Kings and Reign fans, guys like: Arthur Kaliyev and Matt Luff.
Making the roster is no small feat either. There will be 18 former first and second-round NHL draft picks participating in this year’s slate of activities. Further, over the past 30 years, 94% of the 977 players who have competed in the AHL All-Star Game have competed in the NHL during their careers.
Of course, the annual two-day affair will culminate with the actual AHL All-Star Classic itself. Like the NHL version, the game will be played as a round-robin tournament, pitting the four AHL Divisions against each other.
Both nights will be television on NHL Network.
Standing 6-foot-5 without skates, Lee has built upon his strong seasons of the past few years to take on a leadership role with Ontario this year. His importance to the organization is showing up on the scoresheet, as well. Entering the All-Star Break, he leads the Reign in goals (18) and his 32 points are only four points shy of the team lead — all while having played fewer AHL games than most of his teammates. His seven power play goals are also tops among all Reign skaters in 2025-26.
Earlier this season, Lee was recalled to the Kings for seven games, where he scored another goal and earned praise from coach Jim Hiller and GM Ken Holland. Originally selected by the Kings at the 2019 Draft, he made his NHL debut early last season and ultimately suited up in 19 NHL games before rejoining the Reign for the 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs. Throughout his time as a pro, he’s shown to have good hands, especially in tight. During his college career, he scored 64 points (31G, 33A) in 87 games, along with a plus-26 rating. He was also known for scoring timely goals in big moments. He also helped the Umass-Lowell River Hawks earn their first bid to the NCAA Tournament since 2017 and was named to the Hockey East Third All-Star Team.
Prior to joining UMass-Lowell, Lee played one season of USHL hockey with the Sioux Falls Stampede. It was rather successful, as he posted 35 points (20G, 15) during his first season in North America, and they won the Clark Cup (USHL championship).
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