The Kings re-signed forward Andre Lee to a one-year, two-way contract, per a team release. His minor-league salary for next season wasn’t disclosed, but he’ll earn the minimum $775K salary if on the NHL roster.
Lee, 24 next month, was the Kings’ seventh-round pick in 2019 and is one of the bigger forward prospects in their pool at 6’4″ and 205 lbs. After he was drafted, he played three seasons of college hockey with UMass-Lowell, accumulating 64 points in 87 games there before signing his entry-level deal with Los Angeles in 2022.
He’s yet to make his NHL debut but has slowly worked his way up the organizational depth chart during his two seasons suiting up for AHL Ontario. Lee can play both left wing and center and is coming off a strong end to his season, scoring four times in eight playoff games for the Reign. However, he’s totaled just 14 goals and 24 points in 105 regular-season games with Ontario since beginning his professional career on a tryout to close the 2021-22 season.
Lee isn’t a likely candidate to make the NHL roster next season, but even getting minor-league games out of a seventh-round pick is a decent bit of work. He won’t require waivers to return to Ontario if cut from the roster during training camp, but that will change if he re-signs for 2025-26 or beyond. Lee was slated to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights next month, and he’ll have the same status when his deal expires next offseason.