Ontario Reign Season Preview

The Ontario Reign kick off their 11th season in the American Hockey League tomorrow evening in Ontario, hosting the Tucson Roadrunners at 7 PM from Toyota Arena. Last season, the club saw one of their most successful regular seasons in franchise history, as they finished with their second-highest win total of all time, posting a 43-25-3-1 record while advancing to the playoffs for the fifth straight season. Below are five things to look at surrounding the Reign heading into the season opener.

1) FAMILIAR FACES: The Reign roster heading into tomorrow night currently consists of 26 players - 16 forwards, eight defensemen, and two goaltenders. Of the 26 players, 14 of them played at least one game with Ontario last season. Martin Chromiak returns for his fourth full season after setting career highs in goals (18), assists (21), and points (39) while Glenn Gawdin is the leading returning scorer from a year ago after posting 62 points (26-36-62) in 62 games. Francesco Pinelli set a career high in goals (15) last year and enters his third season with Ontario. Taylor Ward and Andre Lee are the two skaters that return who made their NHL debut’s last season with the Kings. Ward collected 27 points (12-15-27) in 66 games setting a career high in goals last year and scored in his lone game with LA on Apr. 17 vs. Calgary. Lee saw action in 19 games with the Kings tallying three points (1-2-3) and notched 20 points (6-14-20) in 48 games with the Reign.

2) KEY NEW ADDITIONS: Forward Cole Guttman is arguably the most intriguing newcomer this season as he signed a two-year contract with LA on July 1 after spending the past three seasons with the Chicago Blackhawks organization. The former NCAA National Champion at Denver recorded 127 points (55-72-127) in 148 games with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs while collecting 14 points (8-6-14) in 41 games with the Blackhawks. Last year, he tied for eighth in the AHL with 16 power-play assists while leading the Rockford IceHogs in points (57), goals (23), and assists (34), appearing in 70 games. Former 11th overall pick from the 2016 NHL Entry Draft Logan Brown signed a one-year contract with Los Angeles on July 2. He notched 29 points (11-18-29) in 33 AHL games last season with Syracuse, as his season was shortened due to injury. Across his eight-year professional career, Brown has recorded 127 points (40-87-127) in 148 AHL games while adding 26 points (7-19-26) in 99 games. Defensively speaking, Samuel Bolduc signed a one-year contract with the Kings on July 2. The former second-round pick, 57th overall in 2019 by the New York Islanders, spent the last five seasons in the New York organization appearing in 52 NHL games tallying four goals and four assists. He also skated in in 211 AHL games recording 92 points (28-64-92). 2021 third-round pick in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft by LA, Kirill Kirsanov will make his North American professional debut after spending parts of the last five seasons playing in the KHL.

3) GOALTENDING SITUATION: After Pheonix Copley was claimed off waivers by the Tampa Bay Lightning last week it looks like the Reign will lean on Erik Portillo between the pipes. The 25-year-old signed a three-year contract extension with the Kings on August 25, 2024 and made his NHL debut a year ago, making 29 saves in a 2-1 win over Anaheim on November 29. Portillo posted a 15-5-3 record in 24 appearances for Ontario last season with a 2.82 goals-against average and .889 save percentage but played his last game on February 17 and was sidelined with an injury the rest of the campaign. Isaiah Saville signed an AHL contract with Ontario this past July and remains the other active netminder on the roster. Drafted by the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, Saville has appeared in 40 AHL games and 33 ECHL games dating back to the spring of 2022.

4) BEHIND THE BENCH: On July 11, the Reign announced Andrew Lord as the fourth head coach in franchise history after Marco Sturm was named head coach of the NHL’s Boston Bruins earlier in the summer. The West Vancouver, British Columbia native was head coach of Halifax in the QMJHL and the Mooseheads were the youngest playoff qualifier in the league as Lord guided them to an upset of the Drummondville Voltigeurs, the league’s Western Conference regular season champion, in the first round. Prior, he spent four seasons in the ECHL with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits, the Reign’s ECHL affiliate, where he was ECHL Coach of the Year in 2023-24 and guided the club to their highest win total (44) and point total (93) in franchise history. He compiled a 155-94-39 record in 228 games and reached the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals with Greenville. Lord led the Cardiff Devils of the Elite Ice Hockey League (EIHL) for six seasons from 2014-20 which included four years as a player/coach. He was the winningest coach in Devils history, leading them to an overall record of 221-75-22 while earning the league’s Coach of the Year award twice in 2017 and 2018. Chris Hajt was promoted to associate coach after serving as an assistant coach with the Reign the last five seasons. Brad Schuler returns as an assistant coach while Adam Brown is back as goaltending development coach. Ryan Dumoulin enters his second year as video coach and team services specialist.

5) KINGS DRAFT PICKS: The Ontario Reign currently have 13 players on their roster that were drafted by the LA Kings. Below is a full list of players with their draft history and contract status:

Forwards (10)
Martin Chromiak: ‘20, 5th RD, 128th overall. Signed a one-year, two-way contract with Los Angeles on Jun. 3, 2025.

Koehn Ziemmer: ‘23, 3rd RD, 78th overall. Signed a three-year, entry-level contract on Nov. 17, 2025.

Akil Thomas – ‘18, 2nd RD, 51st overall. Signed a two-year NHL contract on Jun. 6, 2024.

Kenny Connors – ‘22, 4th RD, 103rd overall. Signed a two-year, entry-level contract on Apr. 3, 2025.

Kaleb Lawrence – ‘22, 7th RD, 215th overall. Signed a three-year, entry-level contract on May 24, 2024.

Andre Lee – ‘19, 7th RD, 188th overall. Signed a two-year NHL contract on Mar. 8, 2025.

Jack Hughes – ‘22, 2nd RD, 51st overall. Signed a two-year AHL contract with Ontario on Jun. 3, 2025.

Francesco Pinelli – ‘21, 2nd RD, 42nd overall. Signed a three-year, entry-level contract on Apr. 11, 2022.

Jared Wright – ‘22, 6th RD, 169th overall. Signed a two-year, entry-level contract on Apr. 14, 2025.

Aatu Jamsen – ’20, 7th RD, 190th overall. Signed a two-year, entry-level contract on May 22, 2024.

Defensemen (3)
Otto Salin – ‘22, 5th RD, 148th overall. Signed a three-year, entry-level contract on Mar. 31, 2025.

Kirill Kirsanov – ‘21, 3rd RD, 84th overall. Signed a two-year, entry-level contract on Jun. 1, 2025.

Jakub Dvořák – ‘23, 2nd RD, 54th overall. Signed a three-year, entry-level contract Jul. 14, 2023.

The Reign are set to kick off the 2025-26 regular season on Friday, as they host the Tucson Roadrunners at Toyota Arena!