Imama, Iacopelli to Manchester, Finn released from PTO

The Ontario Reign announced a trio of roster moves this afternoon as forwards Boko Imama and Matheson Iacopelli were assigned to the ECHL’s Manchester Monarchs, while defenseman Matt Finn was released from his PTO with the team and is expected to return to the ECHL’s Florida Everblades.

The most notable of the trio is Imama, who has spent his entire professional career to date with the Reign. Imama has skated in 72 games with Ontario over this and last seasons and has tallied six points (3-3-6) over 34 games in the 2018-19 season. Imama showed strides from Year 1 to Year 2 in his development process but was unable to hold down a regular place in the Reign lineup. The 6-1 forward has shown physical play and a willingness to stand up for his teammates throughout his time in Ontario and will look to re-kindle his offensive flair – he scored 41 goals with Saint John of the QMJHL during the 2016-17 season – while with Manchester.

Iacopelli was acquired by the Kings, from Chicago, on February 24 in exchange for forward Spencer Watson. Iacopelli skated with Ontario over the past two weeks but did not get into a game during his time with the Reign. The 6-2 forward collected 14 goals and 27 points over 85 regular-season games over the last three years with AHL-Rockford.

Finn joined the Reign last week as a reinforcement on defense, with Ontario sitting at just six defensemen heading into a three-in-three set. Finn made his Reign debut in Saturday’s win over Iowa and was a healthy scratch in the other two contests. Finn, who previously appeared in eight AHL games this season, split between Grand Rapids and Hartford, is expected to re-join ECHL-Florida.

Today’s roster moves, combined with yesterday’s recall of forward Matt Luff to the Kings, brings Ontario from a heavy group of 26 to a more manageable group of 22, heading into this weekend’s road trip against Tucson. Defenseman Daniel Brickley skated today in a regular black jersey – Will look for an update on his status tomorrow, as he works his way back from a lower-body injury. If Brickley is healthy, Ontario would sit at 13 forwards and 7 defensemen.