With the 2024-25 regular season of hockey already reaching a conclusion in several leagues across the globe, NHL executives are starting to ramp up plans for next year. Even before championship trophies are handed out in various North American leagues, contract activity is in full swing.
Around this time each year, NHL organizations are sorting through their prospect pools and making final decisions on which players will be signed to entry level contracts for future seasons. Many factors go into these decisions, including organizational need, a player’s development in the years since he was drafted, as well as the expiration of said player’s rights. For a simplistic explanation here, NHL teams hold the rights to Canadian major junior players for two years after the Draft and college players are typically four years (it can shorten or lengthen based on their individual situation, but the rights period essentially ends when the player runs out of college eligibility).
There also is a rule that limits NHL teams to a maximum of 50 contracts, this includes all two-way deals (i.e. players on NHL contracts who are playing in the minor leagues — guys like Reign captain Joe Hicketts), junior players that have already been signed to their ELCs even though they may not turn pro for another year or two (i.e. goaltender Carter George).
Two players who face a deadline for the Kings to sign them are defenseman Matthew Mania (2023 Draft selection, June 1 deadline), and forward Jack Hughes (2022 Draft, Aug. 15 deadline).
We won’t spend too much time here but can at least pass along some quick context. Mania has been in the OHL since being selected in the fifth round. He started in Sudbury before being traded to Flint last summer. The 20-year-old Florida native has been to LA a few times for Development Camp and Rookie Camps. Overall, his development hasn’t advanced to the point of earning a contract. There’s nothing overly wrong with him as a player, but scouts and management need to see NHL potential if they’re going to use one of their 50 NHL contract slots on a prospect.
Hughes is perhaps the most intriguing name mentioned here, if for no other reason than he was selected in the second round (2022). His college path began at Northeastern before transferring to Boston, where he’s spent the past two seasons. Playing right wing on BU’s second line, he’s shown flashes of promise at times, yet the consistency has just never been there — and that’s a major factor contributing to his contract situation. Last summer, Kings Of The Podcast shared extensive conversations with both Assistant GM Nelson Emerson and Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Yannetti about Hughes.
There was also some context offered by coach Mike Donnelly during our 2022 and 2023 Development Camp reports.
In the end, we don’t expect Mania or Hughes to be offered contracts.
One final point here, all is not lost for LA when it comes to the 2022 Draft. Sure, they’re most likely going to pass on signing their top selection that year (Hughes). Yet, the bigger picture is perhaps more important. Five of their six other selections from that class will be offered contracts, and the sixth player (Jack Sparkes, sixth round) could very well end up with a deal in two years, as well. They’ve already signed Angus Booth (fourth round) — and he’s been one of the best defensive players in Ontario this season. They’ve also previously signed Kaleb Lawrence (seventh round), who brings an intriguing package of skills at 6-foot-6 and the ability to provide secondary offense. With three more potential signings from the 2022 class, that could ultimately prove to be a fruitful Draft for the organization.
In contrast, look for Kings GM Rob Blake to extend entry level contracts to four different players in the weeks ahead. Two are wrapping up their seasons in Europe and the other pair have a shot at the NCAA National Championship in April.
Kenny Connors – A fourth round selection in 2022, the third-year UMass forward has already punched his ticket to the 16-team NCAA playoff bracket that gets underway this coming Thursday. Once his season is officially over at some point, look for LA to try and sign the Pennsylvania native. Looking at his points alone won’t even begin to tell the story (he’s put up 28 points in 38 games this season), as Connors is a just a gamer. In a very unassuming way, he provides sneaky offense and is the type of player all championship teams need on their roster. We expect him to be an important player on the Reign next season.
Jared Wright – We’ll call him the yin to Connors’ yang. Another player who is expected to fill more of a bottom-6 role, but that isn’t in a knock in any way whatsoever. After scoring 15 goals for the Pioneers last season, he’s been used as one of the team’s key shutdown players this year. Ranked as one of the top teams in the country once again, Wright has a solid chance at another championship before signing. Denver coach David Carle had the 22-year-old Minnestoa native join the Pioneers a year earlier than expected, after DU won the NCAA championship in 2022. That alone speaks to the respect Carle has for Wright, asking a young player to come in a year early, on a championship club. They’re currently the defending national champions and would love nothing more than to go back-to-back. Regardless how it all plays out, look for the Kings to offer him a contract next month once the playoffs are over.
Otto Salin – Speaking of playoffs, the right shot defender from Finland has been making headlines in Liiga. With his TPS Turku club needing a little bit of help on the last day of the regular season, Salin scored the game winning goal in overtime to send his club into the postseason. It was a solid game overall, where he added two assists and ended the night as a plus-3. Then, in Game 1 of the opening round, he scored two goals en route to a victory. Everything came to an end this past weekend, as Salin and TPS were eliminated from the playoffs. Look for the Kings to offer him an NHL entry level contract, where he’d be expected to begin his North American pro journey with AHL Ontario. This season, Salin has already established new career highs in goals (8) and points (28), showing growth in his overall development.
Kirill Kirsanov – We covered his situation in detail via a separate article here. The piece included quotes from several in Kings managements, as well as NHL legend Igor Larionov, who is serving as a mentor for Kirsanov.
It’s at least worth noting that in addition to the four players above, forward Koehn Ziemmer is also an important Kings prospects expected to join AHL Ontario next season. He’s already signed to an NHL entry level contract, so that announcement is in the rear-view mirror. There was talk of him possibly turning pro last summer; however, after missing most of 2023-24 with a serious ankle injury, he returned to the WHL this season to get fully prepared for the big jump. The 20-year-old winger is a power forward and should be an interesting add to the Reign lineup, as the Kings really don’t have anybody like him in their current prospect pool. Ziemmer finished the regular season with 37 goals and will now turn his attention to the WHL playoffs. Should his Prince George team get eliminated early, it’s conceivable that he would then join Ontario for the balance of this season just to help him get acclimated with what’s to come.
More on Ziemmer (as well as OHL forward Liam Greentree and college forward Ryan Conmy) can be found here:
MORE LA KINGS NEWS:
Follow @mayorNHL
Continue reading...
Preparing to Say Goodbye
Around this time each year, NHL organizations are sorting through their prospect pools and making final decisions on which players will be signed to entry level contracts for future seasons. Many factors go into these decisions, including organizational need, a player’s development in the years since he was drafted, as well as the expiration of said player’s rights. For a simplistic explanation here, NHL teams hold the rights to Canadian major junior players for two years after the Draft and college players are typically four years (it can shorten or lengthen based on their individual situation, but the rights period essentially ends when the player runs out of college eligibility).
There also is a rule that limits NHL teams to a maximum of 50 contracts, this includes all two-way deals (i.e. players on NHL contracts who are playing in the minor leagues — guys like Reign captain Joe Hicketts), junior players that have already been signed to their ELCs even though they may not turn pro for another year or two (i.e. goaltender Carter George).
Two players who face a deadline for the Kings to sign them are defenseman Matthew Mania (2023 Draft selection, June 1 deadline), and forward Jack Hughes (2022 Draft, Aug. 15 deadline).
We won’t spend too much time here but can at least pass along some quick context. Mania has been in the OHL since being selected in the fifth round. He started in Sudbury before being traded to Flint last summer. The 20-year-old Florida native has been to LA a few times for Development Camp and Rookie Camps. Overall, his development hasn’t advanced to the point of earning a contract. There’s nothing overly wrong with him as a player, but scouts and management need to see NHL potential if they’re going to use one of their 50 NHL contract slots on a prospect.
Hughes is perhaps the most intriguing name mentioned here, if for no other reason than he was selected in the second round (2022). His college path began at Northeastern before transferring to Boston, where he’s spent the past two seasons. Playing right wing on BU’s second line, he’s shown flashes of promise at times, yet the consistency has just never been there — and that’s a major factor contributing to his contract situation. Last summer, Kings Of The Podcast shared extensive conversations with both Assistant GM Nelson Emerson and Director of Amateur Scouting Mark Yannetti about Hughes.
There was also some context offered by coach Mike Donnelly during our 2022 and 2023 Development Camp reports.
In the end, we don’t expect Mania or Hughes to be offered contracts.
One final point here, all is not lost for LA when it comes to the 2022 Draft. Sure, they’re most likely going to pass on signing their top selection that year (Hughes). Yet, the bigger picture is perhaps more important. Five of their six other selections from that class will be offered contracts, and the sixth player (Jack Sparkes, sixth round) could very well end up with a deal in two years, as well. They’ve already signed Angus Booth (fourth round) — and he’s been one of the best defensive players in Ontario this season. They’ve also previously signed Kaleb Lawrence (seventh round), who brings an intriguing package of skills at 6-foot-6 and the ability to provide secondary offense. With three more potential signings from the 2022 class, that could ultimately prove to be a fruitful Draft for the organization.
Contracts Should be Coming
In contrast, look for Kings GM Rob Blake to extend entry level contracts to four different players in the weeks ahead. Two are wrapping up their seasons in Europe and the other pair have a shot at the NCAA National Championship in April.
Kenny Connors – A fourth round selection in 2022, the third-year UMass forward has already punched his ticket to the 16-team NCAA playoff bracket that gets underway this coming Thursday. Once his season is officially over at some point, look for LA to try and sign the Pennsylvania native. Looking at his points alone won’t even begin to tell the story (he’s put up 28 points in 38 games this season), as Connors is a just a gamer. In a very unassuming way, he provides sneaky offense and is the type of player all championship teams need on their roster. We expect him to be an important player on the Reign next season.
Jared Wright – We’ll call him the yin to Connors’ yang. Another player who is expected to fill more of a bottom-6 role, but that isn’t in a knock in any way whatsoever. After scoring 15 goals for the Pioneers last season, he’s been used as one of the team’s key shutdown players this year. Ranked as one of the top teams in the country once again, Wright has a solid chance at another championship before signing. Denver coach David Carle had the 22-year-old Minnestoa native join the Pioneers a year earlier than expected, after DU won the NCAA championship in 2022. That alone speaks to the respect Carle has for Wright, asking a young player to come in a year early, on a championship club. They’re currently the defending national champions and would love nothing more than to go back-to-back. Regardless how it all plays out, look for the Kings to offer him a contract next month once the playoffs are over.
Otto Salin – Speaking of playoffs, the right shot defender from Finland has been making headlines in Liiga. With his TPS Turku club needing a little bit of help on the last day of the regular season, Salin scored the game winning goal in overtime to send his club into the postseason. It was a solid game overall, where he added two assists and ended the night as a plus-3. Then, in Game 1 of the opening round, he scored two goals en route to a victory. Everything came to an end this past weekend, as Salin and TPS were eliminated from the playoffs. Look for the Kings to offer him an NHL entry level contract, where he’d be expected to begin his North American pro journey with AHL Ontario. This season, Salin has already established new career highs in goals (8) and points (28), showing growth in his overall development.
Kirill Kirsanov – We covered his situation in detail via a separate article here. The piece included quotes from several in Kings managements, as well as NHL legend Igor Larionov, who is serving as a mentor for Kirsanov.
And the Other Guy
It’s at least worth noting that in addition to the four players above, forward Koehn Ziemmer is also an important Kings prospects expected to join AHL Ontario next season. He’s already signed to an NHL entry level contract, so that announcement is in the rear-view mirror. There was talk of him possibly turning pro last summer; however, after missing most of 2023-24 with a serious ankle injury, he returned to the WHL this season to get fully prepared for the big jump. The 20-year-old winger is a power forward and should be an interesting add to the Reign lineup, as the Kings really don’t have anybody like him in their current prospect pool. Ziemmer finished the regular season with 37 goals and will now turn his attention to the WHL playoffs. Should his Prince George team get eliminated early, it’s conceivable that he would then join Ontario for the balance of this season just to help him get acclimated with what’s to come.
More on Ziemmer (as well as OHL forward Liam Greentree and college forward Ryan Conmy) can be found here:
MORE LA KINGS NEWS:
Follow @mayorNHL
Continue reading...
