On Sunday, the bracket was officially announced for the DI men's ice hockey tournament with the first game set to be played later this week. For any Los Angeles Kings fans that are looking to watch a little extra hockey, the upcoming tournament includes two Kings' prospects who will be playing.
Both prospects were part of the 2022 NHL Draft class as Kenny Connors was selected in the fourth round and Jared Wright was selected in the sixth round. Let's take a closer look at each prospect and when they are playing in the tournament.
Kenny Connors
Kenny Connors is part of the University of Massachusetts team and has played in the NCAA for the past three seasons. The center has finished each season with at least 20 points and this season has set career-highs in goals and assists with 10 and 18 respectively.
UMass is set to play the University of Minnesota on Thursday with a start time of 8:30 PM ET on ESPN2.
Jared Wright
Wright has played the past three seasons with the University of Denver and after 12 points in 2022-23, he had a breakout season with 15 goals and 10 assists in 44 games. This season he has taken a step back with only eight goals and eight assists but a remarkable +/- of +17.
University of Denver would win the championship last season and they will be looking to repeat this season. Their first game of the tournament is on Friday with a 5:30 PM ET start time against Providence with that game on ESPN+.
Will the Los Angeles Kings look to sign both players after the tournament?
While both players were drafted by the Kings both players are currently unsigned and haven't signed their entry level contract. However, according to Mayor's Manor these two players are part of a group of four prospects that the Kings will want to sign over the next few weeks. The thought would be that they would be part of the Ontario Reign next season.
If both UMass and Denver win their first two games of the tournament, the Kings prospects will face off in one of the two Frozen Four games on April 10th.
Regardless, it should be a fun hockey tournament with Boston College as the overall top seed and Michigan State as the second seed. The 16-team tournament will end in St. Louis on April 12th with the Championship Game.