Kings sign Denver forward Jared Wright to entry-level contract – San Bernardino Sun

The Kings have signed forward Jared Wright to a two-year, entry-level contract, the club announced on Monday.

Wright, 22, won the 2024 national title with the University of Denver, and returned to the Frozen Four with the Pioneers last week. Denver fell in double overtime of a national semifinal game against Western Michigan and Kings goalie prospect Hampton Slukynsky.

While Wright’s offensive totals don’t scream through the screen, his compete level, skating, intensity, ability to press puck-handlers and energetic play permeate any evaluation of his game.

“I think that I’m a 200-foot player that pressures pucks all over the ice,” Wright told Kings Insider Zach Dooley. “I try to use my skating all over the ice to force turnovers in all three zones, and I think I’m very good at penalty killing.”

He was considered something of a late bloomer when the Kings selected him in the sixth round (169th overall) in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft after he was passed over in his first draft-eligible season. Today, he stands 6-foot-2 and tips the scales at nearly 200 pounds.

With this signing, five of the Kings’ seven selections in that draft are now under contract. Only second-rounder Jack Hughes and another sixth-rounder, Jack Sparkes, remained without an entry-level pact.

Like many college prospects, Wright had been waiting for his NCAA season to conclude to put pen to paper. Theoretically, he could join a group of arrivals to the Ontario Reign, the Kings’ top minor-league affiliate, just in time for the American Hockey League playoffs.

Yet as with the Ducks’ signee on Monday, Western Michigan forward Tim Washe, Wright excelled in the classroom as well as the weight room, and his academic pursuits could also be a factor.

The Reign already got some notable reinforcements: Carter George recorded a 4-0 shutout in his pro debut and winger Koehn Ziemmer joined the Reign on Monday. Like the Kings, the Reign were in a dogfight for second place in the Pacific Division, standing in a points tie with the Abbotsford Canucks entering the week.