Kings Recall Tobias Bjornfot And Cal Petersen
With their AHL affiliate in Ontario being eliminated on Friday, Los Angeles has elected to bring a couple of extra players up. They announced that defenseman Tobias Bjornfot and goaltender Cal Petersen were recalled from the Reign while also loaning goaltender David Hrenak to Greenville of the ECHL with the Swamp Rabbits still playing at that level.
Bjornfot is no stranger to being recalled this season as this is the ninth (and final) time that he is getting promoted. The 22-year-old played in ten games with the Kings during the regular season, the fewest appearances at the top level he has had in the last three seasons. In those contests, Bjornfot picked up an assist along with 11 hits and 12 blocks while logging a little over 14 minutes a night.
At the minor league level, Bjornfot was a bit more productive but certainly didn’t light up the scoresheet either, collecting five goals and seven helpers in 50 games. It should be his final season in the minors as he’ll be waiver-eligible next season and it’s unlikely that Los Angeles will want to risk losing him for free by trying to send him down again.
As for Petersen, it has been a year to forget for the 28-year-old. After a rough start to the year that saw him post a save percentage of just .868 in 10 appearances, he cleared waivers at the beginning of December and was sent down to the minors. He fared a bit better down there, putting up a .904 SV% in 40 regular season contests but that type of performance won’t be enough to see him pushing for playing time in the postseason. Instead, he’ll likely serve as the third-string option, allowing Hrenak to go back to the ECHL where he spent the majority of his season.
Kings Sign David Hrenak And Andre Lee
The Kings have signed one of their college prospects as PuckPedia reports (Twitter link) that they’ve signed goaltender David Hrenak to a one-year, entry-level deal. The contract will be for the 2022-23 season and will carry an AAV of $925K. Later in the evening, the team confirmed Hrenak’s deal while also announcing a two-year, entry-level pact for Andre Lee.
Hrenak, 23, was a fifth-round pick of Los Angeles back in 2018 (144th overall) and recently wrapped up his college career at St. Cloud State. This season, Hrenak played in 31 games for the Huskies, posting a 2.26 GAA with a .914 SV% (both career bests) along with a shutout. Unfortunately, his season came to a disappointing end as he had been hospitalized with pneumonia and was only cleared to dress in case of emergency for their first-round appearance in the Frozen Four tournament, one that they eventually lost to Quinnipiac.
Hrenak will join AHL Ontario on an amateur tryout agreement for the remainder of this season, allowing him to get his feet wet in the pros. Los Angeles has a pair of AHL netminders on expiring contracts in Garret Sparks (pending UFA) and Matt Villalta (pending RFA) so while the crease may be crowded for the Reign down the stretch, that won’t likely be the case for 2022-23 as at first glance, Hrenak could be taking Sparks’ place on that roster.
As for Lee, he was a seventh-round selection of the Kings in 2019 (188th overall). He just finished up his junior year at the University of Massachusetts-Lowell where he put up career highs in goals (16) and points (28) while tying his career best in assists with 12 in 28 games. A 6’5 center, Lee will also be joining Ontario on an ATO agreement for the rest of the season before his contract begins in 2022-23.
Los Angeles also announced that they have re-assigned forward Samuel Helenius to Ontario from JYP of the SM-liiga while they’ve inked defenseman Kim Nousiainen to an ATO agreement. Helenius, a second-round pick in 2021, had three goals and six assists in 49 games in Finland’s top league while Nousianen, an unsigned 2019 fourth-rounder, had 14 points in 35 games with KalPa in Finland.