The Los Angeles Kings have completed some business, re-signing Matt Luff and Mikey Eyssimont to one-year deals. Both contracts are two-way deals and will carry NHL salaries of $700K. Both players were pending restricted free agents.
Luff, 23, has played 51 games for the Kings over the last two seasons but failed to really establish himself as an NHL force. The undrafted free agent signing out of the OHL has nine goals and 16 points in those games, but has shown a little more offensive upside at the minor league level. While Luff may receive some more opportunity in the Kings lineup there are certainly other prospects in the system on paths that will quickly overtake him on the depth chart.
Eyssimont, 24, isn’t really one of those prospects. Though he did record 12 goals and 28 points in 56 games this season with the Ontario Reign, he’s at the point where becoming an impact NHL forward is likely out of reach. He does represent some more depth for the organization and a strong player for the AHL team, but that point-per-game output at the college level does not seem to have traveled with Eyssimont to professional hockey.
There are several more minor league RFAs for the Kings to sign, along with Nikolai Prokhorkin at the NHL level. Prokhorkin, of course, has already returned to the KHL and signed a two-year deal with Magnitogorsk, meaning that though the Kings can retain his rights temporarily with a qualifying offer, he won’t be signing a new deal with them anytime soon.