Kings sign Gawdin & Mallot to two-year deals, Madden, Studnicka & Walsh to one-year deals

The LA Kings have signed the following five players to contracts –

Jeff Malott – 2 Years, $775,000 AAV (First year is one-way, second year is two-way)
Glenn Gawdin – 2 Years, Two-Way $775,000 AAV
Tyler Madden – 1 Year, Two-Way $775,000 AAV
Jack Studnicka – 1 Year, Two-Way $775,000 AAV
Reilly Walsh – 1 Year, Two-Way $775,000 AAV

Always expect to see these kinds of contracts signed on July 1. Players who have spent a lot of time in the American Hockey League and could feature for the Ontario Reign but there are also some NHL opportunities in here. All five players above are coming in at an AAV of $775,000. Madden is a familiar face, re-signing with the Kings organization after he was not tendered a qualifying offer yesterday. As noted in that article yesterday, that does happen in certain instances and it’s not that surprising to see Madden return.

The other four signings all have NHL experience of varying degrees, but all four have played at least one NHL game. The most experienced player in the group is Studnicka, who has played NHL games in each of the last five seasons and has 107 total NHL games under his belt, including 22 last season and 47 the season before. Gawdin has played 13 NHL games over the last four seasons, playing in at least one NHL game in each season, while Malott and Walsh have each played one career NHL game.

More on these five signings below –

Jeff Malott
Big dude. 6-5 big. When you’ve got that kind of stature, on top of 20+ goals in three consecutive AHL seasons, I imagine there will always be interest from teams around the league.

The Kings land Malott on a two-year contract. One of the seasons is one-way, the other is a two-way deal. Malott has spent the last four seasons at the AHL level with the Manitoba Moose, including the last three in which he’s played full slates. He’s scored more than 20 goals in each of those three seasons. Imagine this is the kind of guy you want to take a flyer on, with a contract like this. He has the size and he’s got enough skill to be a 20-goal scorer in the AHL. He hasn’t really had an NHL opportunity, outside of one game with Winnipeg during the 2021-22 season.

Photo by Richard A. Whittaker/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Glenn Gawdin
I’ve always been a Glenn Gawdin fan.

My intel is based on watching him play with the Stockton Heat during the 2019-20 season, but he was a really good player on that team. Gawdin has been a solid AHL player throughout his career, earning himself a few cups of coffee at the NHL level, though without an extended look. He’s averaged 0.72 points per game throughout his AHL career and was an AHL All-Star with Stockton in 2020.

Gawdin gets the two-year term on a two-way contract with the Kings. A solid player at that level who is not out of place in the NHL. Likely a signing, to start, with the Ontario Reign, with the potential chance to contribute with the Kings, if performance and opportunity merits it.

Photo by Debora Robinson/NHLI via Getty Images

Tyler Madden
We know Tyler Madden and we know he’s a good fit with the Reign.

He’s been a solid member of the Reign since he began his professional career in the 2020-21 season. This past season, he played mostly in the Top 6 and he’s been a 15-20 goals guy in his time there. He hasn’t made the jump to an NHL player but he’s been a consistent 15-20 goal guy in the AHL, he works hard and you see a guy who really cares when you watch him play. Good guy to keep around and he’s only 25 – As far as Madden’s NHL development, I’d consider him to be past the prospect phase, but he’s not 33 either. Still room to grow and improve. Likely not at the very top of the callup chart, but he’s still on it. A solid AHL player with room to improve, and a guy who is well-liked with the Reign. Glad to see the two sides work out a new contract.

Jack Studnicka
The most experienced and most interesting signing of the group is Studnicka.

This is a guy who was a regular on the 2022-23 Vancouver Canucks and played NHL games last year with Vancouver and San Jose. He’s a former second-round pick and was a part of Boston’s lineup at times throughout his time there. He played in five playoff games with the Bruins in 2020. One of those guys who you always expected to breakthrough as a full-time NHL player though it hasn’t happened yet. He’s only 25-years-old though and is a proven AHL player. He was an AHL All-Star in 2020 and was named to the 2020 AHL All-Rookie Team as well.

I like the signing here. If I’m Studnicka, I’m coming into training camp seeing an opportunity to take a roster spot. If he does, he’s on a league-minimum contract. If not, he’s an established AHL player for an Ontario squad that should be pretty experienced overall this season. Good bet for both sides. Similar signing from an experience standpoint to say a Jaret Anderson-Dolan or a Mikhail Maltsev. Proven in the AHL with NHL potential to at the very least fill in.

Photo by Leila Devlin/Getty Images

Reilly Walsh
With the acquisition of Kyle Burroughs, the Kings now have four right-shot defensemen in the organization who could feature in the NHL this season. Burroughs is likely fourth on that list and is in line to either be the seventh defenseman with the Kings, or the first defenseman in Ontario.

Walsh is a young veteran at 25, with four complete AHL seasons under his belt, most recently with Providence after three years in the New Jersey organization. He’s scored nine goals in three straight AHL seasons, ranking in the league’s Top-20 in goals from the blueline in each of those three campaigns. He’s not a big player at 5-11 but he skates well and adds offense from the backend. It’s currently a very left-shot heavy blueline in Ontario and Walsh adds a bit of balance to that group. He can play on the power play, he can move pucks and he can certainly shoot the puck. He’s considered undersized for the backend but he’s a very solid AHL player with two seasons of 40+ points.

Photo by David Kirouac/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

Will put all of today’s action into a bigger picture overview of where the Kings seem to be at, now that today’s signings appear to have come to a close. Will give a sense of where the cap situation is at, how the lineup is shaping up and what could still be yet to come.