After what has already been a pretty eventful past few weeks for the Ontario Reign, things are about to get a whole lot more interesting. From what we’re hearing, Liam Greentree — the LA Kings No. 1 prospect — is headed to the American Hockey League.
Originally selected in the first round (26th overall) at the 2024 NHL Draft, Greentree produced spectacular offensive numbers throughout the OHL’s 2024-25 regular season. Playing for the Windsor Spitfires, the 19-year-old winger recorded 49 goals and 119 points. Those numbers placed him top five in the league for goals and points. He kept it going int he postseason, as well. During the Spits first round series vs. Sault Ste. Marie, Greentree put up 15 points (7G, 8A) in five games. This included a hat trick in the series clinching game.
Windsor then jumped out to a 3-0 series lead against Kitchner in the second round. Greentree had a five goal night in the third contest, then everything changed. He was held off the scoresheet in Game 6 — something that hadn’t happened all postseason (and only once during the final 17 regular season games). Something seemed off; and indeed, it was. Greentree missed Game 5 of the series due to an illness. He came back for Games 6 and 7, but was held pointless, and Kitchener pulled off the reverse sweep.
With the Reign having already received a handful of Kings prospects in recent weeks — including Carter George, Koehn Ziemmer, Otto Salin, and Jared Wright — they’re not getting set to add Greentree too, with one slight catch. He won’t be available for Games 1 and 2 of their first-round playoff series that begins tonight.
From what we’re hearing, Greentree will arrive in SoCal over the weekend, with his physical and other medicals scheduled for Monday.
Should Ontario advance past San Jose, Greentree should be available for games as early as next week. We’ll have more on the situation as it unfolds.
One quick rules explanation is worth noting. Greentree and George are both ineligible to play for the Reign next season. It will be either OHL or NHL for both (and everything points to the former at this time). Some have asked, ‘Then why can they play in the AHL this month?’ The short answer is because their OHL teams have been eliminated from playoff action, therefore their OHL seasons are over. In those situations, Candian junior players can be assigned to an AHL team. For more on this topic, including additional prospect rules, be sure to check out the article linked below.
To learn more about Greentree and why the Kings are so excited about his future with the organization, give this a watch:
MORE LA KINGS NEWS:
Follow @mayorNHL
Continue reading...