Francesco Pinelli earns increased role centering Ontario Reign’s top line

There haven’t been any signs of a sophomore slump for forward Francesco Pinelli in his second professional season in the AHL with the Ontario Reign.

A Kings’ second round pick in 2021 whom they traded up to select, Pinelli has been on one of his best runs of late, scoring five points in his last five appearances for Ontario.

While the Reign have excelled this season, currently holding second place in the AHL’s Pacific Division with a record of 34-19-3-1 and 72 points through 57 games, the center hasn’t always gotten the minutes he may have desired. Over the past few months, after Samuel Helenius was loaned back to the minor league club at the end of January, Pinelli was stuck at No. 4 on the team’s depth chart behind him and veterans Glenn Gawdin and Jack Studnicka.

That situation was not the fault of Pinelli’s, but the Stoney Creek, Ontario native kept a positive attitude and continued to make an impact as much as he could, spending time with checking wingers Shawn Element, Jacob Doty and Aatu Jamsen, another one of the Kings promising young prospects in his rookie North American pro year.

When Helenius was recalled earlier this month around the NHL’s trade deadline, Pinelli was ready to seize his opportunity. The pivot was elevated to play alongside leading goal scorer Samuel Fagemo and the speedy Martin Chromiak. Then when Chromiak went down with an injury and missed a pair of games last week, Pinelli saw time on a line with Charles Hudon, the team’s top point producer.

“He had a slow start, but the last few months I thought he was much better,” said Reign head coach Marco Sturm when discussing Pinelli recently. “He’s skating better, he’s more involved and he’s not even on the first power play or sometimes not on the power play at all.”

With the Reign down a goal and struggling to generate offense during the second period last week in Tucson, Sturm chose to shuffle his lineup. He moved Pinelli up to the team’s top line, giving him a chance to play with Jeff Malott for the first time, as well as Fagemo.

The change paid dividends almost immediately, with Gawdin striking to tie up the game midway through the third. Then with the game even and less than three minutes to go in the third, Pinelli got to the front of the net while Malott had possession behind the cage. Malott sent the puck to the slot and Pinelli was ready, putting a quick-release wrister top shelf for his third game-winner of the year to send Ontario home with two points.

“It felt good,” Pinelli said after that night’s win. “Obviously [Malott and Fagemo] are two great players and to play with them was real fun. Jeff just rolled the net and I tried to get into a scoring area. He popped it out and I put it in.”

Keep them comin’, Reign fans!! FRANKY FELT THE SPIRIT!!🚨👐👐👐#ReignTrain I #ONTvsTUC pic.twitter.com/D0toz1atdN

— Ontario Reign (@ontarioreign) March 13, 2025

When the team returned to practice two days later in El Segundo, Pinelli continued his first line role during preparation for Sunday’s home matchup against Henderson. Ontario earned a 3-2 shootout victory with that formation and although Pinelli didn’t find the scoresheet, he had an impact in the win with four shots on net.

“He was pretty good in Tucson,” Sturm said on Sunday. “Today he was okay too and I think it’s a good learning process for him to jump up to those lines and play with really good players. That’s just a good experience for him and hopefully he can get something out of it.”

The 22-year-old has already surpassed the 13 goals he had as a rookie during the 2023-24 campaign, totaling 14 from 56 contests, which, along with 12 assists, gives him 26 points overall.

Pinelli also has seven multi-point efforts this year and took his second four-game point streak of the season into Sunday’s matchup.

The prospect’s teammates have also taken note of the way he’s elevated his game, both offensively and defensively, as well as in the faceoff circle.

“Franky’s come a long, long way,” said Doty after Pinelli scored a shorthanded breakaway goal earlier in the month. “From when he got here last season to now, I think he’s made huge strides, and I think he just continues to get better. You see his confidence growing day by day. He’s putting it together and doing things the right way and I think that will continue.”

A Francesco Pinelli shorty makes it reign⛈️@OntarioReign | #SDvsONT pic.twitter.com/BLz7d4ct04

— American Hockey League (@TheAHL) March 8, 2025

Chromiak, another young forward in the Reign’s lineup who scored his 12th tally of the year on Sunday, also weighed in on Pinelli’s recent improvements.

“I think lately he’s doing great,” Chromiak said. When he was playing on my line, he was very good on faceoffs and that’s huge, starting every shift with the puck. Good for him that he gets this chance.”

Another recent transaction which saw the Kings swap winger Tyler Madden for a defender in Joseph Cecconi will allow Pinelli to assume more of a role up front with postseason play on the horizon for the Reign. As Sturm mentioned, he hasn’t seen consistent time on either special teams unit previously.

“He’s still learning,” Sturm said. “He’s trying to find his way, but I like where he’s heading because we need him. We need him on the penalty kill and with Madden gone, he’s going to get more opportunities. Good for him and I hope he’s going to keep it going.”

Pinelli is hoping the increased playing time down the stretch will have him ready for the higher intensity of playoff hockey this spring.

A year ago, as a rookie, Pinelli carved out a role with the limited minutes he got during the regular season. But then when it came time for Game 1 of the Calder Cup Playoffs, he, along with Chromiak, found themselves out of the lineup as Sturm elected to go with a bigger, heavier group up front. The two younger, faster options didn’t find their way in until the final game that Ontario played against Coachella Valley in the third round. They were effective in that contest, helping the Reign to an early 2-0 lead, but the team was unable to hang on and eventually fell 3-2, ending their season.

If things continue to trend in the current direction, Pinelli should have a much bigger role this time around, one year later.

“I’m a little more confident but just trying to play my game, helping out as much as I can,” Pinelli said of how he feels at this point in the season compared to last year. “I’m just making sure I’m playing a proper game and being effective. We have a really good team again this year and that’s really exciting.”