Kings extend affiliation agreement with ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits

An announcement here today, Insiders.

The Kings announced today that the organization has extended its affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits, through the 2025-26 season. The Kings have formally affiliated with Greenville since 2021 and have been sending players on NHL and AHL contracts to play in South Carolina since 2020.

An ECHL affiliation carries a couple of degrees of importance to the NHL club, even if they aren’t typically reaped immediately.

For the Kings, the best example thus far from a small sample size has been goaltender Jacob Ingham. Ingham was a draft pick of the Kings and was a highly-touted, if raw, goaltender. Ingham’s first three seasons on his entry-level contract were greatly impacted by injury, as he never really established himself within the organization’s goaltending flow. This summer, coming off a season where he missed pretty much the entirety due to injury, he agreed to terms on an AHL contract with Ontario. He had a good training camp and started his season off in Greenville, as expected. The response was a 17-10-4 record, with a .916 save percentage and a 2.57 goals-against average, as he helped lead the Swamp Rabbits to the South Division title. Throughout the course of the season, Ingham inked an NHL contract through the end of the 2023-24 season, which keeps him within the organization as an RFA come the summer.

Ingham was always a skilled player, with good size and good tools, but we all know that goaltenders can take some time to develop in full. In an NHL organization, typically there is only room for four guys between the NHL and AHL levels. For the Kings, a team in a competitive window, that typically requires three spots for veterans and one for a prospect, in this case Erik Portillo, who was acquired from the Buffalo Sabres at the 2023 trade deadline. A strong ECHL affiliation allowed for the Kings and Reign to send a player like Ingham, who they liked, to a place where he could play regularly. He’s rewarded them for their commitment and the Swamp Rabbits proved to be a good place for him to reestablish his professional career.

The ECHL is commonly thought of as a “goalie league” from an NHL perspective, though around the league, it’s become known for much more than that. More and more regularly, teams are sending NHL-contracted players or AHL players with NHL-contract potential, to the ECHL for heavy minutes, as the league has become an exponentially stronger development league than it was even 10 years ago. It’s a league with more skill and speed today than it’s had in the past. Lots of depth pieces on the Vegas Golden Knights squad that won the Stanley Cup last year had ECHL experience, whether they be individuals who played in playoff games or contributed during the regular season.

Good to have it underway.

LA Kings Director of Player Development, Glen Murray
The LA Kings are excited to announce the extension of our affiliation with the Greenville Swamp Rabbits of the ECHL for the next two seasons. We are very proud of the work Head Coach & General Manager Andrew Lord and his staff have done with our prospects this past season. We look forward to seeing the development continue for years to come.

Greenville Head Coach Andrew Lord
We couldn’t be more excited to continue what’s worked so well. We’re grateful for the Los Angeles Kings for extending this partnership we have. Since we began our relationship, the communication from top down on hockey, players, and organizational success has been second to none, which is key in today’s game in both winning and properly growing talent. This affiliation has helped staff develop and advance to the next level of their careers and has provided players an opportunity to challenge themselves as professionals in pursuit of their goals on the ice. I’d like to thank Rob Blake, Nelson Emerson, Rich Seeley, and the Kings and Reign organizations for their professionalism and commitment to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits and continued excellence in our game.

From the Greenville official release –

The Greenville Swamp Rabbits, 2024 South Division Champions, announced today that the organization is proud to continue its affiliation with the NHL’s Los Angeles Kings and AHL’s Ontario Reign.

The affiliation, which began as a working partnership in 2021-22 and became an official affiliation at the start of the 2022-23 ECHL Season, will perpetuate for another two seasons into the 2025-26 campaign.

Since becoming affiliates in 2022-23, the Swamp Rabbits have helped propel over a dozen players from Greenville to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. Among those players, two were named ECHL All-Stars, including goaltender Ryan Bednard this past season. Additionally, Swamp Rabbits goaltender Jacob Ingham earned an NHL contract this year, the second of his career, signing the deal this past March. In each of the last two seasons, the Swamp Rabbits, Reign, and Kings have all qualified for their respective league’s playoffs, one of only four NHL affiliation systems capable of claiming that success.

The Swamp Rabbits now look forward to the 2024 Kelly Cup Playoffs and will face the Orlando Solar Bears in the opening round, the South Division Semifinals. Game 1 of the best-of-seven series will begin on April 21st at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, slated for a 3:05 p.m. EST puck drop.

Kings are off today and will return to the ice for practice tomorrow. A tough night yesterday if you’re in the camp of wanting the Kings to finish third in the Pacific Division. More to follow tomorrow, as the playoff picture comes into focus with games elsewhere here tonight.