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Snapshots: Avalanche, Squires, Ziemmer

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The Avalanche announced some heavy roster trimming after playing their final regular season game last night. Forwards Jere Innala, T.J. Tynan, Chris Wagner, and defensemen Wyatt Aamodt and Jack Ahcan were reassigned back to AHL Colorado after being called up recently to allow some lineup staples to rest. All the players listed saw limited action down the stretch, and all five appeared in last night’s win over the Ducks to give Colorado its fourth straight season with over 100 points. The Avs finished with a 49-29-4 record and will face the Stars in the first round as the lower seed. The group of five will now suit up for the Eagles in the Calder Cup Playoffs, with more experienced names like Wagner likely to be among the first added to the Avalanche’s postseason roster if injuries necessitate a recall.

Other minor moves from around the league this morning:

  • The Devils announced today that they’ve reassigned right-wing prospect Cam Squires to AHL Utica after he finished his major junior season with the Cape Breton Eagles of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League. Squires, fresh off his 20th birthday, led Cape Breton in scoring with 24-51–75 in 58 games this season and 15th overall in the QMJHL. A 2023 fourth-round pick, he signed his entry-level deal last summer and will kick off his first full professional campaign next season, presumably in Utica.
  • The Kings are also giving one of their prospects a taste of pro hockey to end the season, reassigning right-winger Koehn Ziemmer to AHL Ontario. The 2023 third-rounder is coming off a 37-goal, 71-point campaign in 61 games with the Prince George Cougars of the Western Hockey League, but he’s still failed to break the career-high 89 points he scored in his draft year with the Cougars. With his 20th birthday behind him, as well as four seasons of WHL play, he’s eligible for a full-time assignment to Ontario beginning next season.

Alec Martinez Announces Retirement

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Today will be Blackhawks defenseman Alec Martinez’s final NHL game, he told Chicago Sports Network’s Darren Pang during warmups (via Tab Bamford of Bleacher Nation). He joins teammate Pat Maroon in retiring following the season, but neither will travel for the team’s season-ending road trip through Montreal and Ottawa.

Martinez’s NHL dream began in 2007 when the Kings selected him in the fourth round out of Miami University. He had been passed over in the 2005 and 2006 drafts but was selected following a strong sophomore showing with the RedHawks. His post-draft season saw him record a career-high in points and CCHA Best Defensive Defenseman honors, earning him an entry-level contract with Los Angeles the following summer. He spent most of the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons with their AHL affiliate, then the Manchester Monarchs, but made his NHL debut with a four-game trial in the latter campaign.

After a strong start to 2010-11 in Manchester, the Kings recalled him in November, and he never looked back. He scored his first NHL goal in his first game of the season and stuck around as a bottom-pairing fixture, posting 5-11–16 in 60 games with a +11 rating as the Kings made the playoffs but lost to the Sharks in the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

In 2011-12, Martinez spent the first half of the year as a frequent healthy scratch but got regular reps after L.A. traded rearguard Jack Johnson to the Blue Jackets for Jeff Carter. Of course, that trade was one of the most consequential of the decade – Carter flourished in a top-six role as the eighth-seeded Kings dominated the 2012 postseason en route to the franchise’s first Stanley Cup. Martinez played in all 20 playoff games, now a third-pairing regular with Johnson out of the picture, and posted three points with a plus-five rating while averaging 14:28 per game.

That’s not the Cup run Kings fans will remember Martinez for, though. Now established as a consistent championship contender, Martinez posted a career-high 22 points in the 2013-14 regular season before scoring two overtime series-clinching goals – one to send the Kings to the 2014 Stanley Cup Final and the other to win it over the Rangers a couple of weeks later. Those were two of the five goals Martinez scored during that playoff run, the same number as star blue-liner Drew Doughty, as he forever established himself as a legend in Los Angeles sporting lore.

In his late 20s, Martinez began taking on consistent top-four minutes as the Kings’ championship window drew to a close. His most divisive season came on a 2016-17 Kings club that missed the playoffs, posting a career-high 39 points in 82 games while finishing with a career-worst -17 rating.

While Martinez’s point totals began to dwindle in the late 2010s, he remained a shot-blocking extraordinaire with a well-rounded defensive game. Amid his fifth consecutive season averaging over 20 minutes per game, his time in Los Angeles came to an end when they traded him to the Golden Knights ahead of the 2020 deadline.

The trade to Vegas breathed new life into Martinez’s two-way game. He made multiple deep playoff runs with the club, including his third Stanley Cup ring in 2023, while continuing to serve as a top-four presence, commonly alongside Alex Pietrangelo. He also had the best offensive campaign of his career in 2020-21 with 0.60 points per game – 0.12 above his previous career high – but the COVID-shortened season prevented him from setting a career-high in points outright. In Vegas’ first Stanley Cup championship in 2023, Martinez’s +13 rating ranked fifth on the team, and he naturally led the club with 57 blocks in the postseason.

Injuries also began to stunt Martinez’s availability, though. After making just 26 appearances in the 2021-22 season, multiple injuries cost him a significant chunk of the 2023-24 campaign. With his ice time and normally staunch possession impacts dwindling, Vegas opted not to re-sign him with his three-year, $15.75MM contract coming to a close.

The Blackhawks stepped up to offer the respected veteran a one-year, $4MM commitment on the open market, and the 37-year-old Martinez arrived in Chicago to help anchor one of the league’s most inexperienced blue lines. Groin and neck injuries limited him to 43 appearances, but he served as an alternate captain and contributed 12 points with a -15 rating while averaging 18:45 per game. Of course, his 5.95 blocks per 60 minutes finished second on the team behind Connor Murphy.

Martinez finishes his career with an 88-201–289 scoring line in 861 games. Among 2007 draftees, he ranks 17th in games played – of course, tremendous value for a fourth-round pick. His career +73 rating also ranks sixth in the class. Only five players – Pietrangelo, John Carlson, Mark Giordano, Ryan McDonagh, and Kris Russell – have blocked more shots than Martinez since he debuted.

All of us at PHR wish Martinez all the best as he ends the playing phase of his hockey career and congratulate him on his spectacular career.

Image courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images.

Carter George Assigned To AHL

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  • The Kings’ AHL affiliate in Ontario announced that Los Angeles has reassigned goaltender Carter George to the Reign. The 18-year-old was the third goalie taken at the draft last June, going late in the second round at 57th overall.  The 18-year-old played in 47 games with OHL Owen Sound this season, posting a 3.35 GAA and a .909 SV% before the Attack got eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs.  George won’t be eligible to play full-time for Ontario next season so this will just be an opportunity for him to keep skating for a bit longer and perhaps get into his first taste of professional competition.

Kings Downgrade Tanner Jeannot To Out Week-To-Week

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Los Angeles Kings winger Tanner Jeannot will take longer than expected to recover from an undisclosed injury that’s held him out of the team’s last six games, per NHL.com’s Zach Dooley. Jeannot was designated as out day-to-day ahead of Los Angeles’ road loss to the Colorado Avalanche on March 27th.

Jeannot sustained the injury in March 25th’s win over the New York Rangers, though it’s not clear when he was hurt. His last shift came with 16 minutes left in the third period, and it appears he could have hurt his ankle on a no-contact injury while setting up to block a shot. But without any confirmation from the team, Kings fans will be forced to trust that the ailment isn’t too severe.

Jeannot was red-hot in the games leading up to his injury, with four points in his last three appearances. That represented nearly a quarter of Jeannot’s scoring all year long, bringing him up to seven goals and 13 points in 67 games this season. He’s fallen to the role of fourth-line bruiser and leads the Kings in hits with 211 – 80 more than anyone else on the roster. But Jeannot has struggled to find the shooting luck that led him to a 24-goal, 41-point season with the Nashville Predators in 2021-22. That scoring upside was certainly what Los Angeles was hoping for when they traded a second-round and fourth-round pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for Jeannot this summer.

Without the shooting luck, Jeannot’s role has become fairly easy to replace. His bruising role has been split between young center Samuel Helenius – who ranks second on the team with 131 hits – and depth winger Jeff Malott. Malott has torched the AHL this year, scoring at a career-high pace to achieve 23 goals and 51 points in 61 games. He’s added to that 80 penalty minutes and plenty of hits; though he’s yet to record an NHL point through six games this season or one game in 2021-22. Helenius hasn’t been productive at the top level either, with just five points in 44 NHL games this summer. The duo will stand as upside scorers in minimal roles as the Kings coast through their final six games of the season.

Kings Injury Notes: Turcotte, Doughty

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Forward Alex Turcotte skated at practice today for the Los Angeles Kings in a non-contact jersey, per team reporter Zach Dooley. Dooley also noted that he heard that Turcotte skated with the team’s healthy scratches prior to yesterday’s game against the Oilers.

Turcotte, 24, has missed the last six games with an upper-body injury he sustained against the Boston Bruins on March 23. This represents the second multi-game injury for Turcotte on the season, as he was placed on the IR in November with an upper-body injury. All told, the spark plug center has appeared in 64 games on the season and has registered eight goals and 23 points in a bottom-six role. A high pedigree draft choice (fifth overall in the 2019 draft), Turcotte is enjoying his first full season in the NHL this year. Last season, he recorded 29 points in 35 games at the AHL-level, while also appearing in 20 contests for the Kings, where we put up one goal and three assists. While the organization would no doubt benefit from his continued offensive development, he has formed a formidable depth line with wingers Tanner Jeannot and Samuel Helenius, although as Dooley points out, Jeannot remains out with his own injury. While Head Coach Jim Hiller noted Turcotte’s return to practice as a positive step in his recovery, he did caution patience in the young forward’s return.

Dooley added that veteran defenseman Drew Doughty did not practice today after not playing the final 7:46 of yesterday’s win against the Oilers. While his status will be something to monitor, Hiller did not seem overly negative about Doughty’s availability moving forward, calling the decision to sit Doughtry “precautionary.” He added that Doughty’s may not return to 100 percent health the rest of this season and that the club will look to support Doughty by way of managing his schedule and ice time. On the season, Doughty has appeared in just 28 games. But when healthy (or healthy enough to suit up), the vet has still produced offensively to the tune of four goals and 19 points. Doughty has spent his entire 17-year career with the Kings, registering 160 goals, 526 assists, and 686 points in 1,205 career games. He is third in franchise history in games played, but first amongst defensemen. He’s added 57 points in 95 career playoff games and has hoisted the Stanley Cup on two separate occasions. He and longtime teammate Anze Kopitar will look for a third cup run as the team recently clinched their spot in the playoffs.

Kings Assigned Carter George To The AHL

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  • The Los Angeles Kings assigned 2024 second-round selection goalie Carter George to the AHL, per a team announcement. George, 18, recorded a 17-22-6 record to go along with a .909 save percentage in 47 contests for the OHL’s Owen Sound Attack. Carter also shined this year in the Under-20 World Junior Championships for Team Canada. Despite his 2-2 record, Carter recorded a .936 save percentage and 1.76 goals against average for the tournament. The teenager will now look to make an impact for the AHL’s Ontario Reign. George signed a three-year, entry-level deal with the Kings in 2024.

Ryan Conmy Enters Transfer Portal

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  • Kings prospect Ryan Conmy has entered the transfer portal, relays Mark Divver of the New England Hockey Journal (Twitter link). The 20-year-old was a sixth-round pick by Los Angeles in 2023, going 182nd overall.  The winger’s first two seasons at the University of New Hampshire were solid, tallying 29 goals and 35 assists in 68 games, leading the team in scoring both seasons.  He’ll now look to find a new school to play at and it will be interesting to see if he winds up with a program that can keep him on the top line or if he’ll look to play for a stronger team with more of a limited role.

Kings, Kenny Connors Agree To Entry-Level Contract

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April 3: Los Angeles announced the deal this morning. It begins next season.

April 2: The Kings have agreed to a two-year entry-level contract with forward Kenny Connors, John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor reports. The 22-year-old pivot turns pro following his junior season with UMass. It’s unclear whether the deal begins immediately or next season, but it’s likely the latter.

Connors isn’t a free-agent pickup. Los Angeles selected him in the fourth round (No. 103 overall) of the 2022 draft from the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League. The Glen Mills, Pennsylvania native jumped to NCAA play with the Minutemen following his selection, putting together a 9-17–26 scoring line in 32 games in his freshman season to earn Hockey East All-Rookie Team honors. He also suited up for the United States at the 2023 World Juniors, scoring a pair of goals in seven games and winning a bronze medal.

The 6’2″, 207-lb center hasn’t seen an increase in point production over his last two seasons, though. He was limited to 7-15–22 in 37 games in his sophomore season, a stark drop from 0.81 to 0.59 points per game. He got things back on track somewhat this year with a 10-goal, 29-point showing in 40 games, but his 0.73 points per game still didn’t eclipse his freshman effort.

Nonetheless, Connors will close the book on his collegiate career. He’ll likely get a lengthy look with AHL Ontario before getting a crack at making his NHL debut. He’s the No. 12 prospect in the Kings’ system, per Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. That’s second in what’s a paper-thin pool of centers in L.A. behind 2021 second-rounder Francesco Pinelli. He “plays a well-rounded two-way game built upon hard work, a drive to be involved, decent skating, applying pressure and then making quick decisions and reads with the puck to generate offense and sustain offensive-zone time,” Wheeler writes. “I’m not sure if he has true NHL skill, pace or upside, but some believe he might become a bottom-six option or good AHL depth and I could see that.”

Regardless of when Connors’ deal begins, it gives the Kings 32 deals on the books for the 2025-26 campaign, 19 of which are forwards.

Los Angeles Kings Sign Otto Salin

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Apr. 1: PuckPedia provided an overview of Salin’s three-year entry-level contract:

  • Year 1: $775K salary, $87.5K signing bonus, $12.5K unspecified games played bonus
  • Year 2: $775K salary, $87.5K signing bonus, $12.5K unspecified games played bonus
  • Year 3: $812.5K salary, $87.5K signing bonus

Mar. 31: Over the weekend, a report from Mayor’s Manor suggested that the Kings were on the verge of signing defenseman Otto Salin to an entry-level deal.  That deal is indeed now done, with the team announcing that they’ve signed Salin to a three-year contract that begins next season.  While not confirmed by the team, it’s expected that he’ll join AHL Ontario on a tryout deal, allowing him to play with the Reign down the stretch.

The 21-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Los Angeles back in 2022, going 148th overall in a season riddled by some injuries.  To that point, Salin had primarily played in Finland’s junior level but he has played exclusively in the pros since then.

Salin spent most of his post-draft year with HIFK at the top Liiga level while getting into a handful of Mestis games (minor league level) as well.  He split time between the two levels last season as well while only managing six assists in 29 games with HIFK.

This season, his fortunes changed for the better.  Salin notched eight goals and 20 assists in 56 games during the regular season with TPS while averaging 17:32 per game.  He added two goals and two assists in five postseason contests in over 23 minutes per night of playing time before being eliminated by SaiPa, a decent way to cap off his season.  That was good enough to earn an NHL contract while likely getting his feet wet in the minors in the days to come as well.

Los Angeles Kings Expected To Sign Otto Salin

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Should everything go according to plan, the Los Angeles Kings are expected to sign Otto Salin to an entry-level contract this weekend (Twitter Link). Salin has reportedly already landed in Los Angeles, and he’s expected to join the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign, for the remainder of the season.

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