Early this week on Monday morning, the Los Angeles Kings made the move to assign forward Andre Lee to the AHL affiliate Ontario Reign. The move comes as the Kings and head coach Jim Hiller now have 21 players on the active roster lineup going into Tuesday night's game against the East against the New York Rangers on Jan. 20.
Los Angeles Kings assign winger Andre Lee to the Ontario Reign in the AHL after seven games played and one goal
The LA Kings PR account on X reported on Monday morning (Jan. 19) that the team had loaned Lee to the Reign in the AHL early this week.
A few weeks ago, the Kings called up Lee and fellow Reign forward winger Taylor Ward from the AHL in Ontario on Jan. 7. Lee played over 10 minutes per game in average ice time, scoring one goal and one assist for two total points in seven games played for the Kings in the league in the NHL.
The Reign in the AHL were without Ward and Lee for this past few weeks, since the Kings and Hiller lost multiple key veteran forward players offensively due to various injuries and other reasons for the team. You would expect a negative impact from the absences of two huge and important offensive players on the top-six forward lines for the Reign in the AHL.
But in this past few weeks, the Reign have been one of the best offensive teams in the AHL in the league scoring the puck offensively. In the past three weeks, the Reign have registered a record in the AHL of 7-2-0, including five games of scoring at least four goals offensively this month in early-to-mid January.
It was huge for the Kings to see younger forwards like Lee and Ward to come up from the Reign in the AHL and join the fourth-line forward group for the team and effectively contribute offensively this regular season in the West.
Getting opportunities like this for Lee and Ward to prove they can handle themselves offensively and on both sides of the ice in the league in the NHL is huge for the Kings for the future of the franchise and with the roster depth in the long term.