He’s come a long way from playing goalie in his older brother’s road hockey games.
In less than a month, Liam Greentree has gone from being selected at the NHL Entry Draft in Las Vegas to signing his first pro contract with the LA Kings.
After his second OHL season, where he put up 90 points (36G, 54A) in 64 games, the Windsor Spitfires forward heard his name called by Mark Yannetti on stage at The Sphere at pick No. 26 of the first round.
About 30 minutes later, Greentree spoke with gathered media for the first time in a Kings jersey:
Listed at over 6-foot-2, 210 lbs., the 18-year-old winger is frequently referred to as a power forward — and something that was on full display earlier this month at Development Camp.
From our post-camp notebook, “Greentree consistently made an impact in drills and the scrimmages. He showed a willingness to grind hard and not give up on plays, and throughout Wednesday’s scrimmage, LA’s newest blue-chip prospect commanded the ice nearly every shift.”
The big Canadian-born forward also displayed diversity in his game, showing off his creativity as a facilitator in the second scrimmage, before converting to a shooting machine and scoring threat in the third scrimmage.
“He’s a big body [and] he knows what he is good at,” said Glen Murray. “He has a real good shot for a kid that age. His shot comes off like an NHL shot. And he can skate. He’s hard to handle down low. He’ll hold on to the puck, protect the puck — which is huge for a big body. Head up down low; and will make the play.”
Even before the Draft began, we had the Kings high on Greentree, as noted in our annual prediction article:
After a summer of training, Greentree will return to Los Angeles for the NHL Rookie Faceoff tournament in September — an event the Kings will host for the first time, more on that here.
He will then return to the OHL, where he’ll once again captain the Spitfires. For those wondering, per prospect rules, Greentree is not eligible for the AHL next season. He must play in either the OHL or NHL (as explained here).
One interesting note to follow, though, is that he was not invited to Team Canada’s summer evaluation camp for the upcoming World Junior Championships. What makes this rather curious is Greentree won gold with Canada twice over the past season, both at Hlinka Gretzky Cup and at the U-18 World Junior Championships in May. All is not lost, though. Based upon his performance at the beginning of the 2024-25 season, Greentree could still be invited to Canada’s final selection camp in early December.
As for the contract, it was a fairly standard three-year Entry Level Contract. It includes bonus provisions should be make the NHL before the deal expires (similar to the bonus money Quinton Byfield earned this past season).
For now, the contract won’t count toward the Kings 50 contract limit either. By returning to the OHL for his 2024-25 campaign, Greentree’s contract will slide; meaning the three-year term won’t start until later down the road.
Get to know more about Greentree in the article below.
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