Holiday weekend; Reddekopp signs

Insiders! A very good, happy, healthy holiday weekend to you. I’m taking the option this weekend, and barring anything large or breaking, won’t be posting to the site other than in friendly check-ins from time to time in the commentary between now and Tuesday.

Here’s your Saturday open thread-slash-reminder that the Kings signed Chaz Reddekopp, a 19-year-old defenseman who showed improvement through each rookie and development camp, and as someone known more for his hard, defensive zone work, he put together a productive 19-year-old season for the Victoria Royals with 10 goals and 43 points in 51 games. I’ll have a more thorough scouting report next week; he’s already gotten into the last two games with Ontario.

The Kings had planned on waiting until Reddekopp’s junior season was over before getting into contract discussions with him, so the timing of this is as expected. As a major junior-based player who will play his 20-year-old season next year, he will be eligible to play in either pro hockey or be returned to WHL-Victoria.

Six of the nine seventh round picks between 2009 and 2015 signed entry-level contracts with the club: Jordan Nolan (2009), Nic Dowd (2009), Nick Ebert (2012), Spencer Watson (2014), Chaz Reddekopp (2015) and Matt Roy (2015).

Enjoy your weekend, Insiders.

The full Kings release:
The LA Kings have signed defenseman Chaz Reddekopp to a three-year entry-level contract, Kings Vice President/General Manager Rob Blake announced today.

The 20-year-old Reddekopp (born Jan. 1, 1997) is a 6-3, 220-pound native of Abbotsford, British Columbia who appeared in 51 regular-season games this season with the Victoria Royals (WHL), posting 43 points (10-33=43), a plus-15 rating and 63 penalty minutes. He led team defensemen and set career-highs in goals, assists (fourth overall), points (fifth overall) and power-play goals (4).

A seventh-round (187th overall) selection of the Kings at the 2015 NHL Draft, Reddekopp appeared in 234 regular-season games over four full seasons with Victoria, including the last two where he served as the assistant captain, recording 103 points (20-83=103), a plus-56 rating and 251 penalty minutes. He also appeared in 31 postseason games, where he recorded nine points (0-9=9), a plus-3 rating and 30 penalty minutes.