West Notes: Isogai, Popovic, Nelson

Earlier today, the AHL affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings, the Ontario Reign, announced a two-year AHL contract for an up-and-coming name from Canada’s Western Hockey League. The Reign shared that they’ve signed forward Kenta Isogai. No financial details were released.

The 20-year-old native of Nagano, Japan, recently completed his second season in the WHL. Though he started his WHL career with the Wenatchee Wild for the 2023-24 season, he was acquired by the Victoria Royals for the end of the season. He excelled at the WHL level, scoring 63 goals and 166 points in 123 games, achieving a +49 rating, along with 10 goals and 25 points in 16 postseason contests.

Given that he was also named to the WHL’s First All-Star Team last year, it’s a little surprising that Isogai has gone undrafted over the past few years. He’s a little undersized, but not to a serious degree, and should be given every opportunity to succeed in AHL Ontario.

Other notes from the Western Conference:

• According to a team announcement, the Colorado Avalanche have hired Mark Popovic as their new skills coach. It’ll be Popovic’s first formal coaching position at the NHL level, although he’s been working as an informal consultant for the Avalanche for the past few years. He’s better known for his playing career at the AHL level, where he scored 36 goals and 134 points in 359 games from 2002 to 2007. He played under 100 games in the NHL with the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim and the Atlanta Thrashers.
• The ECHL’s Iowa Heartlanders, affiliate of the Minnesota Wild, announced today that they’ve signed forward Jaxon Nelson to an ECHL contract for the 2025-26 season. The former captain of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers had been playing for the AHL’s Providence Bruins the past few years, to disappointing results. Still, Nelson is only two years removed from scoring 19 goals and 31 points in 39 games for Minnesota.