Los Angeles Kings Recall Jared Wright
According to a team announcement, the Los Angeles Kings have recalled depth forward Jared Wright from the AHL’s Ontario Reign. The Kings reassigned Kenny Connors and Wright yesterday to ensure that both remained eligible for the 2026 Calder Cup playoffs.
Until then, it appears that Wright will remain on the NHL roster for the next little while. Wright, 23, was drafted 169th overall by Los Angeles in the 2022 NHL Draft and is in his first full season actively playing for the organization.
Before his time in professional hockey, Wright spent three years at the University of Denver. He was a decent secondary scorer throughout his tenure with the Pioneers, scoring 32 goals and 54 points in 122 games with a +35 rating. He helped the program win the National Championship in 2024.
As expected, he has spent much of the year with AHL Ontario, with promising results. He’s currently sixth on the team in scoring with 17 goals and 30 points in 54 games with a +27 rating. Compared to the rest of the league, he ranks 12th in scoring among all rookies.
Los Angeles doesn’t have much to lose by seeing what Wright can do in the NHL for the rest of the season. The team had a mixed deadline, shipping Corey Perry to the Tampa Bay Lightning, acquiring Scott Laughton from the Toronto Maple Leafs, and signing Mathieu Joseph. Of course, the Kings made their big move before the Olympics, acquiring Artemi Panarin from the New York Rangers.
Kings Trade Warren Foegele To Senators
5:30 p.m.: The deal is now official, per both clubs. The details of the pick swap are as follows:
Ottawa will get the worse of the Kings’ own third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft or Dallas’ third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft (acquired in a previous trade). Los Angeles will get the better of Ottawa’s own third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft or Washington’s third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft (acquired in a previous trade). However, if both Ottawa and Washington do not qualify for the 2026 NHL playoffs, then Ottawa will instead transfer to Los Angeles the worse of Ottawa’s own third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft or Washington’s third round draft pick in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft (acquired in a previous trade).
The Kings also recalled forward Jared Wright from AHL Ontario in a corresponding move, per John Hoven of Mayor’s Manor. He was sent down just yesterday after making his NHL debut against the Avalanche earlier this week, but will be back in the lineup tonight.
4:13 p.m.: The Senators are adding some depth on the wings, with Darren Dreger of TSN reporting they’re acquiring forward Warren Foegele from the Kings. Ottawa is sending the Sabres’ 2026 second-round pick (acquired in last year’s Dylan Cozens/Joshua Norris deal) to Los Angeles in return, while the clubs are also swapping conditional third-round picks, per David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period.
Foegele, 30 next month, is a big left winger with some legitimate scoring upside, although he hasn’t shown much of it this season. He’s scored just seven goals and nine points in 47 games this year, and he was moved to the press box for five of the Kings’ last 10 games after being a lineup staple for L.A. and Edmonton for the last several seasons. Even still, he’s averaged 16 goals and 32 points per 82 games over his nine-year career.
Foegele is playing the season in year two of a three-year, $10.5MM deal and has a five-team no-trade list, which presumably didn’t include his home country’s capital. He still has another year left on that contract at a $3.5MM cap hit – a steep commitment if he can’t rebound to his career-average form, let alone the back-to-back 20-goal seasons he’d put up leading into this year. He’s making only $3MM in actual salary next season, though, so that’ll be financially attractive for the Sens’ books.
While he’d recently squeezed back into the Kings’ lineup thanks to their rash of injuries at forward, he’ll likely get a longer leash in Ottawa’s top-nine, at least to start. David Perron is close to a return from his sports hernia surgery, but his absence has stretched their depth scoring thin with Nick Cousins needing to step up into a third-line role (although even he’s produced at a better rate than Foegele has this year).
That makes a second-round pick a steep price to pay for a player on an undesirable contract who may not be in Ottawa’s regular lineup when Perron returns to health, but it’s only further evidence of the seller’s market this deadline is quickly turning out to be. Comparable fourth-line pieces like Michael McCarron and Nic Dowd have fetched similar returns in the past few days, but those names carry added value as centers (where Foegele has zero utility), and the Sens likely valued his controllability for another year while hoping a change of scenery could make his production more efficient.
Selling off a forward is at first glance counterintuitive for a Kings club that’s had nightmarish scoring troubles this season and is currently down a pair of top-nine wingers for the rest of the season in Kevin Fiala and Andrei Kuzmenko. After swinging a deal for Artemi Panarin last month, they were clearly trying to get themselves back into the playoff picture after a rough start, but their recent rash of injuries – plus the fact they managed to get Panarin extended for two more seasons – has seemingly pushed them the other way, with ESPN’s Emily Kaplan calling them a “wild card team in terms of direction.” Nonetheless, it’s tidy work in a vacuum to land a top-64 pick for a name they haven’t been using while opening up cap space to retool for next season.
Image courtesy of Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images.
Bruce Garrioch of Postmedia was first to report a second-round pick was headed the Kings’ way, while Frank Seravalli of Victory+ was first to report a pick swap was included.
Kings Place Joel Armia On IR
March 4: The Kings announced today that Wright has been reassigned to Ontario and Moverare has been reinstated from the non-roster list. Wright posted zeroes across the board in his NHL debut on Monday, skating 9:42 of ice time.
March 2: The Kings announced a series of roster moves today as a response to lingering injury issues, with team reporter Zach Dooley writing that multiple players on the roster are “questionable” for tonight’s game.
The Kings recalled Angus Booth and Jared Wright, placing winger Joel Armia on IR and designating Jacob Moverare as non-roster playing status. Both Wright and Booth have yet to make their NHL debut to this point in their young pro careers.
The biggest name involved in today’s transactions is Armia, who is dealing with an upper-body injury. According to Dooley, he had an MRI today, but the only indication of the extent of his injury has been this transaction. The 32-year-old is a veteran of nearly 650 NHL games, and has been a quality bottom-six defensive forward for many years. He scored 11 goals and 29 points last season with the Montreal Canadiens before signing in Los Angeles as a free agent. His 10 goals and 20 points are right in line with the scoring paces he managed in the most productive years of his career.
Armia’s on-ice value has always been about more than offense – he’s long been a reliable penalty-killer, someone a team can count on to play a significant role in any short-handed operation. This season, he ranks No. 4 among Kings forwards in short-handed time on ice per game (1:35). As a member of the Canadiens, Armia formed a formidable penalty-killing duo with center Jake Evans, ranking No. 2 among team forwards in penalty killing ice time per game in 2023-24 and 2024-25.
As a result of his IR placement today, he’s guaranteed to miss at least the team’s next few games. His full return timeline is currently unclear, throwing into question whether he’ll be able to play against his former team when the Canadiens visit Los Angeles on March 7. Armia’s direct roster replacement is Wright, who also stands 6’3″.
As previously mentioned, Wright hasn’t yet made his NHL debut, but the former Denver Pioneer is a leading penalty killer amongst Ontario forwards. Because he is playing a similar role to Armia at the AHL level, it’s possible the Kings opt for Wright to make his NHL debut on this recall, perhaps hoping his addition can provide on-ice stylistic continuity while Armia is sidelined.
On defense, Booth has been recalled to replace Moverare, who has been designated as non-roster status. Moverare has been a frequent healthy scratch this season, and when he does dress for games, has averaged just 8:45 time on ice per game. The 27-year-old Swede is a pending UFA and has gotten into just 15 NHL games this season despite spending its entirety in the NHL.
Booth, 21, is still waiting on the chance to make his NHL debut. Given Moverare is the team’s seventh defenseman, he may not get his chance at this point. Drew Doughty is out for tonight’s game, but Booth isn’t a player who fits as a Doughty replacement. With that said, it might not take too long for Booth to get his first NHL game. He’s is a top-four defenseman and steady penalty killer for the Reign, and the rate at which he’s earned recalls in recent weeks suggests he’s getting closer to being considered NHL-ready.
With Moverare’s deal expiring this upcoming summer, Booth may be a player to look out for as a candidate to seize an NHL role going forward – a projection that would grow all the more confident if he can get into some NHL games down the stretch.
Kings Sign Jared Wright To Two-Year Contract
The Los Angeles Kings have signed 2022 sixth-round draft pick Jared Wright to a two-year, entry-level contract per NHL.com’s Zach Dooley. The deal will begin in the 2025-26 season, while Wright will finish this season on the AHL’s Ontario Reign, per the AHL transaction log. Wright will turn pro after wrapping up his third year at the University of Denver.
Wright was a standout two-way forward over his years with the Pioneers. He filled a quaint role on the National Championship-winning 2023 squad, recording eight goals and 12 points in 34 games of his freshman season. But persisting through a depth role paid off in his sophomore season last year, when Wright jumped up to 15 goals and 25 points in 44 games while rotating through the team’s middle-six. Wright ranked fifth on the team in goals that year, while making a strong impact on play outside of the offensive end. His scoring fell back to earth just a bit this year, to the tune of nine goals and 17 points in 44 games this season – though his strong two-way impact remained clear.
Wright will conclude his collegiate career with 64 points in 122 games – though those low marks are a bit deceiving. Nearly every single point he scored at even-strength was a primary point – 49 of 52 points over the last three seasons to be exact. That’s an almost-shockingly impressive mark for the 22-year-old, Burnsville, Minnesota native – who was relatively young for his class. Wright excelled at shutting down opponents on one end of the ice, and controlling the puck over the blue-line and creating chances on the other end. He’ll look to hang onto those talents through the move to pro hockey, while hopefully discovering a bit more scoring along the way.
Jared Wright Commits To University Of Denver
The University of Denver is getting another interesting prospect for the upcoming season, as Los Angeles Kings draft pick Jared Wright has committed to the program. Wright will leave the Omaha Lancers of the USHL after just one season, and start his college career, where he can continue to develop at one of the top hockey development programs in the country.
The Pioneers won last year’s National Championship and have a shot at repeating (especially if John Bucigross of ESPN is to be believed). Wright, 19, was picked in the sixth round by the Kings after going undrafted in his first year of eligibility, and had 34 points in 59 games for Omaha last season. An excellent skater, the 6’1″ winger’s style is well-suited to college hockey, and heading to Denver is likely the best chance he has of playing NHL games down the road.
Los Angeles meanwhile will have to wait and watch his development patiently, with the deadline to sign him now way down the road. Wright is joining a team loaded with other NHL draft picks, including quite a few second-round selections that will draw most of the focus. The college route has turned into one of the best paths a late-round player can take, giving them ample time to develop at their own pace against fully-grown opponents.