Ontario Reign 2022-23 Season Preview

The Ontario Reign’s outstanding 2021-22 season fizzled in the playoffs after their roster lost several key players to the NHL. Despite being one of the highest scoring teams in the league in the regular season, they struggled with offense. The Reign’s season ended in a three-game sweep at the hands of the Colorado Eagles. The team now looks to replicate their thrilling run as one of the top teams in the AHL. Perhaps, however, with a better outcome this time. Let’s preview the Ontario Reign’s season by looking at some faces, new and old, who will be playing this year. 

Returning Ontario Reign Players

Ontario Reign Preview – Forwards: Rasmus Kupari, Tyler Madden, Samuel Fagemo, Akil Thomas, TJ Tynan, Lias Andersson, Samuel Helenius, Andre Lee, Taylor Ward, Jacob Doty (AHL), Aidan Dudas, Austin Wagner, Alex Turcotte

With essentially no open roster spots on the Kings this year, the Reign have a significant number of returning players. There have been a few significant departures, however: Gabe Vilardi (39 games) and Jaret Anderson-Dolan (54 games) made the Kings opening night roster and are likely to stay, given that they would need to pass through waivers to go back down. Martin Frk signed a contract with the St. Louis Blues organization, while long-time captain Brett Sutter finally went home, signing with the Calgary Wranglers. 

That’s good news in terms of continuity, given that most of the roster already has some level of familiarity with one another. But it’s bad news in that the team doesn’t truly have another gamebreaker quite like Frk, whose heavy shot often stood as a difference-maker for the team. 

At this point in the trajectory of both the Kings and Reign, the organization is looking for some of their young stars to take the next step. That means banking on players like Kupari, Fagemo, Thomas, and Madden to continue their development. There’s an excellent assortment of players who, while they may not turn into elite NHLers, could certainly contend for a middle six slot, but to do that, they need to show the consistency that hasn’t necessarily been evident yet in their careers.

Perhaps no player is heading into a more crucial season than Alex Turcotte. The 21-year old center has been limited to just 59 AHL games, his career having been paused repeatedly by injuries, including a concussion during the playoffs last season. While he’s set to resume practicing with the team, Turcotte still isn’t cleared for contact, putting him further and further behind his peers. He was drafted for his playmaking ability and on-ice vision, but finds himself pushed further and further down the depth chart through no real fault of his own. While Turcotte’s health is the top priority, he needs to start showing more of why the organization put their faith in him with the fifth pick of the 2019 draft.

Ontario Reign Preview – Defense: Helge Grans, Jordan Spence, Cameron Gaunce (AHL), Tobias Bjornfot, Frederic Allard, Jacob Moverare

On defense, Jordan Spence was perhaps the most surprising player to be assigned to the AHL. He acquitted himself admirably with the Kings last season, but the strong camp from Brandt Clarke pushed players like Spence, Bjornfot, and Moverare out of the picture for now. The Kings have nine games in which they can evaluate Clarke before either returning him to the Barrie Colts or deciding to keep him and officially start the clock on his entry level contract. Until that picture becomes more clear, Spence will have the opportunity to take on heavy minutes in Ontario. He recorded 42 points in 46 AHL games last season, earning a nod for the AHL First All-Star Team, which stands as quite an achievement for a first year player. Allowing him to serve as one of the Reign’s top defensemen will help better prepare him for his eventual role in the NHL.

Ontario Reign Preview – Goaltender: Matt Villalta

The position perhaps most concerning from an organizational standpoint is goaltending. With Jonathan Quick’s career winding down, the anticipation was that Cal Petersen would step up and take over as the number one goaltender. That hasn’t happened yet, as Petersen struggled last season and had a mediocre preseason this year. Matt Villalta returns for his fourth year in Ontario and while he gets the majority of the Reign’s starts, he’s had no NHL experience, with the Kings opting to call on whichever veteran journeyman netminder they have under contract at the time. (See: Garret Sparks, Troy Grosenick, and now Pheonix Copley.) 

Villalta takes his craft seriously and in conversation always comes across as very detail oriented and focused. However, he does not always inspire confidence in his play and in moments where the team has needed big saves, Villalta hasn’t always been able to make them. The Reign last year were often able to outscore their problems — their 219 goals against had them roughly in the middle of the pack of the league, while their 259 goals for were second only to the Calder Cup-winning Chicago Wolves. If the scoring dries up for the Reign, will Villalta be able to keep them in games? And does he have a future beyond the AHL, or do the Kings need to start looking elsewhere to rebuild their goalie pipeline? 

New Ontario Reign Players

Forwards: Martin Chromiak, Alan Quine (AHL), Brett Kemp (AHL), Nate Thompson (PTO)

The Reign welcome very few new players this season. Several of them (Chromiak, Inamoto, Nousiainen) even got into a few games last year. Martin Chromiak is easily the most exciting new player. He recorded 86 points in 60 games last season for the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs. He did it while playing alongside Shane Wright, but he’s got no shortage of talent of his own. Chromiak has an excellent shot and can be a threat from any spot on the ice. Adding him to a roster already rich with offensive promise makes the Reign even more intriguing up front.

Martin Chromiak with a nifty move in an exhibition shootout following the game

Courtesy of @Sheng_Peng (of course) pic.twitter.com/N0b7IA6x1O

— ALL THE KINGS MEN | LA KINGS PODCAST (@KingsMenPodcast) September 26, 2022

Defense: Tyler Inamoto (AHL), Kim Nousiainen, Tobie Bisson

Goaltender: Pheonix Copley

The 30-year old Copley has spent the majority of his career in the Washington Capitals system, with 226 AHL games to his name. He’s gotten into sporadic NHL action, appearing in 31 games, including two last season with the Capitals. He has the NHL experience the Kings were looking for in terms of a third-string goaltender, giving them confidence that he can be called into game action if necessary.

Ontario Reign Preview – Behind the Bench

Moving from the NHL to the AHL as a coach isn’t all the common, but it’s exactly the move that Marco Sturm made when he transitioned from an assistant coaching role with the Kings to assume head coaching responsibilities with Ontario. Sturm’s tenure in Los Angeles was rocky from a fan perspective; he oversaw the power play, which was consistently one of the worst in the league. From the 2018-19 season, when Sturm joined the organization, to 2021-22, the Kings power play converted at a 16.9% rate, ranking them 26th in the league. While he didn’t always have the most talented personnel to work with, that’s still unacceptable for a team with playoff aspirations.

Sturm saw his greatest success with the German men’s national team, capturing the silver medal in the 2018 Olympics. He showed an ability to make a team better than the sum of its parts, as the German team had no real expectation of being as competitive as they ultimately were. Returning assistant coach Chris Hajt and new assistant Brad Schuler (recently promoted from video coach) are on board to handle special teams and more focused work. With Sturm’s focus shifting to a team as a whole, will he be able to recapture the same magic that he had with the German team?

Around Full Press Hockey

NHL: Preseason Takeaways: New-Look Jets Have Much to Prove

NHL Rumors: NHL Rumors: Ottawa Senators, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils

NHL: NHL Training Camp Preview: Can Sharks, Blues Return To Cup Contender Status?

NFL: Best Bets For 2022 NFL Defensive Rookie Of The Year

Full Press Bets: Early 2022 NFL MVP Odds: Bills’ Josh Allen Favored

PODCAST: Full Press Hockey Weekly Ep 38: NHL Season Preview: Golden Knights, Maple Leafs, Johnny Gaudreau