The Kings have re-signed center Akil Thomas to a one-year, two-way contract with an annual average value of up to $775,000, the team said in a news release Saturday.
This signing extends the stay of Thomas, 23, who has been with the franchise since the Kings selected him in the second round of the 2018 draft. Injuries have marred his past two campaigns, including a shoulder surgery that snipped his most recent season short after just 13 games in which he scored eight points.
The peak moments for Thomas came during his junior career, including captaining the Niagara IceDogs and scoring the gold medal-winning goal for Canada at the World Junior Championships in 2020.
Thomas added to the organizational depth at center and will likely start the year with the Ontario Reign, the Kings’ top minor-league affiliate, where Coach Marco Sturm said he expected Thomas to be a leader last season. The Reign also signed forward Charles Hudon, who spent last season in the Colorado Avalanche organization, to a two-year AHL contract on Monday.
While the focus for Thomas will continue to be on getting healthy and developing his game, he has also developed a persona away from the rink. One of a still limited number of Black players in the ranks of pro hockey (his father and uncle also played minor pro hockey), he has co-hosted the “Soul on Ice” podcast and otherwise been forthcoming about his experience.
Thomas also designed the Kings’ warmup jerseys for Black History Month last season. He was a natural choice not merely because of his identity, but because of his passion for fashion. Thomas began designing shirts at 13 and later co-founded his apparel brand Zale.
“The opportunity to design the Kings jerseys for Black History Month felt like the perfect intersection for me between my hockey career and my passion for design,” Thomas wrote on NHL.com.
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This signing extends the stay of Thomas, 23, who has been with the franchise since the Kings selected him in the second round of the 2018 draft. Injuries have marred his past two campaigns, including a shoulder surgery that snipped his most recent season short after just 13 games in which he scored eight points.
The peak moments for Thomas came during his junior career, including captaining the Niagara IceDogs and scoring the gold medal-winning goal for Canada at the World Junior Championships in 2020.
Thomas added to the organizational depth at center and will likely start the year with the Ontario Reign, the Kings’ top minor-league affiliate, where Coach Marco Sturm said he expected Thomas to be a leader last season. The Reign also signed forward Charles Hudon, who spent last season in the Colorado Avalanche organization, to a two-year AHL contract on Monday.
While the focus for Thomas will continue to be on getting healthy and developing his game, he has also developed a persona away from the rink. One of a still limited number of Black players in the ranks of pro hockey (his father and uncle also played minor pro hockey), he has co-hosted the “Soul on Ice” podcast and otherwise been forthcoming about his experience.
Thomas also designed the Kings’ warmup jerseys for Black History Month last season. He was a natural choice not merely because of his identity, but because of his passion for fashion. Thomas began designing shirts at 13 and later co-founded his apparel brand Zale.
“The opportunity to design the Kings jerseys for Black History Month felt like the perfect intersection for me between my hockey career and my passion for design,” Thomas wrote on NHL.com.
Continue reading...