The Los Angeles Kings are pretty much done with adding to their NHL roster at this point of the offseason, but they are still looking for players who can help them down the road or help their AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. That is exactly why the Kings signed goaltender Mattias Sholl to a one-year AHL contract on Wednesday.
Sholl is coming off a four-year run with Bemidji State University where he would play in 117 games and finished with a 2.58 goals against average and a save percentage of .904. He would also have six shutouts over the course of his time there.
The Kings are not unfamiliar with Sholl as he has been around the organization for awhile now, going as far back as being part of the Jr. Kings. More recently though, he played four games for the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, which is the ECHL affiliate for the Los Angeles Kings. Once again, he was very productive in a small sample size as he had a goals against average of 2.82 and a save percentage of .927 in four games.
Ontario Reign are going to have tough competition at goalie this year
Last season, the Ontario Reign were dealing with a number of injuries at the position and it was challenge late in the year to have a goalie available. They appear to be trying everything they can to avoid that this season and have already brought back Pheonix Copley and signed Isaiah Saville. Both of these goalies will be joining Erik Portillo who appears set for another season in the AHL after the Kings signed free agent Anton Forsberg.
Sholl is unlikely to move ahead of Portillo or Copley but fans will certainly be rooting for him as he grew up in the area. After the signing, he talked about what it meant to be playing for his favorite team from when he was growing up.
"The dream for me as a kid was always to play in the NHL, and play for the LA Kings. There are quite a few steps left for hopefully that to happen, but growing up watching Kings practices and just going to Kings games all the time, and to be in the situation I am now, just being close to it, it’s an incredible feeling, a full circle moment in a way."