4 Kings Prospects To Compete in Frozen Four, Beginning April 10

At the start of the 2025 NCAA Tournament two weeks ago, the Kings had five participants getting set to begin their quest for a National Championship.

Fast forward to present day and with the Frozen Four set to kick off in St. Louis, MO tomorrow, the Kings have an NHL-leading four drafted prospects remaining in contention for that coveted National Championship. The only Kings prospect not to advance was forward Kenny Connors (UMASS Amherst Minutemen), who was eliminated in the regional finals against fellow prospect Hampton Slukynsky and the #4 seed Western Michigan Mustangs by a score of 2-1. Not all bad news for Connors though as the 2022 fourth-round pick from Glenn Mills, PA has since signed a two-year entry level contract with the Kings. As for the four remaining Kings prospects, Kings fans are guaranteed of at least one prospect playing in the National Championship with a maximum possibility of three prospects dropping the puck for a chance to hoist the trophy come Saturday evening.

Hampton Slukynsky (#4 University of Western Michigan) vs. Jared Wright & James Reeder (Denver University) — Thursday, @ 2:00 PM (ESPN2)
In what should be an all-time battle between three Kings prospects, one of the top teams all season in WMU, which is looking for the first national hockey title in school history, will take on the defending National Champions, who are in search of a title defense and an NCAA hockey record-extending 11th trophy hoisted. The two teams tied for first in the NCAA in scoring (4.0 GF/GP) this season and met recently in the NCHC Final just under three weeks ago, where they emerged as the top two teams in that conference. This will be the fourth and final meeting this season between the two clubs, with the highest stakes this sport has to offer in college hockey on the line – a berth in the title game. Heading into Thursday’s tilt, WMU has won two of the three meetings with one win coming in regulation during the regular season and their lone loss coming in overtime in the regular season and their final win over DU coming in an NCHC conference championship clinching three-goal come from behind double overtime thriller.

With the stage set, we’ll begin with the outstanding freshman goaltender Hampton Slukynsky, a fourth-round draft pick of the Kings in 2023, who has been one of the most impressive stories throughout the tournament to date. With a regular season stat line of 15-5-1, a 2.04 GAA and a .918 SV%, Slukynsky stood even taller in the two regional games, leading his team into the Frozen Four. Allowing just two total goals across the defeats of Minnesota State in 2OT’s and UMASS-Amherst in regulation, Slukynsky stopped 54 of the 56 shots faced, equaling a .964 save percentage. More on the terrific netminder HERE from The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler.

Photo by Michael Miller/ISI Photos/Getty Images

As for the duo of Denver forwards drafted by the Kings, Jared Wright, James Reeder and the Pioneers enter the Frozen Four coming off their most impressive win of the season. Taking down the #1 seed Boston College Eagles 3-1 in the regional finals and the Providence University Friars 5-1 in the regional semifinals before that, Denver has won five of their last six games.

Both currently lining up at right wing, Wright and Reeder will play integral but different roles if the Pioneers were to hoist an 11th Nation Championship. Wright, the speedy, tenacious and high hockey IQ Minnesota native will be asked to match up against WMU’s top scoring line and will be doing the same in the championship game if they were to get by the Mustangs. With 16 points (8-8-16) this season, Wright is the top penalty killer for the Pioneers and has provided depth scoring in a shutdown role up front. On the other end of the spectrum, Reeder, the 19-year-old freshman, could play a huge impact if he can provide secondary scoring as he’s done consistently this season. Having done so against Boston College last week, Reeder netted the game’s eventual game-winning goal with a wrist shot through traffic. Reeder has 11 goals and 21 points (11-10-21) this season and occupied has played on the second line of late.

Jack Hughes (Boston University) vs. Penn State University — Thursday, @ 5:30 PM (ESPN2)
Jack Hughes and the Boston University Terriers handled business 8-3 against the Ohio State Buckeyes in the regional semifinals thanks to a five-goal third period and followed the win up with a thrilling 2-1 overtime defeat over the Cornell Big Red to make it to their school’s 25th Frozen Four. Also occupying the second line right wing spot, Hughes, a senior on the NCAA’s fourth-ranked offense (3.8 GF/GP) will be in search of his third point of the tournament (1-1=2) and his 75th career collegiate point come Thursday. The trustworthy two-way forward enters the Frozen Four with 19 points (7-12=19).

Frozen Four Schedule – Enterprise Arena, St. Louis, Missouri
Semifinals
Game 1 – Western Michigan (Slukynsky) vs. Denver (Reeder, Wright) – Thursday, April 10 @ 2:00 PM Pacific
Game 2 – Boston University (Hughes) vs. Penn State – Thursday, April 10 @ 5:30 PM Pacific

National Championship Game
Game 3 – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 – Thursday, April 12 @ 4:30 PM Pacific

Photo by Erica Denhoff/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images