Kings sign forward Martin Chromiak to one-year contract extension (AAV: $775,000)

The LA Kings have signed forward Martin Chromiak to a contract extension.

The deal for Chromiak is a one-year contract, carrying an AAV of $775,000. Chromiak was set to become a restricted free agent this summer and now extends his deal with the organization for another season. Last month, when taking an overall assessment of the team’s free agents, both restricted and unrestricted, I wrote that Chromiak felt like one of two players I could confidently say would re-sign with the organization. It makes a lot of sense. Here’s the deal, a one-year pact, which extends one of the team’s more promising forward prospects in Ontario for another season.

Instant Analysis
Chromiak has developed into a relatively consistent offensive player from a production standpoint in the AHL. He’s scored 15+ goals in all three of his professional seasons with the Ontario Reign, including a career-high 18 in 2024-25. His point totals have steadily increased as well, with a career-high 39 this season as well.

The top five players on the Reign’s scoring charts this season are not players you would consider prospects. All are at least 24, with Samuel Fagemo the only player you might still consider in that category and I think at this point he’s graduated. Then comes Chromiak, at 22-years-old, who has exhibited some promise with the Reign. Chromiak has a skill set that not a ton of guys coming through the organization do. He’s an offensively-minded winger with good puck skills and a good shot. The Kings initially selected him in the fifth round, despite his placement as a second-round caliber player in several external draft rankings. He added five power-play goals this season, seeing a bit more time in those situations with Ontario than he did in seasons past, bringing more of a threat offensively throughout the course of a full season.

Chromiak is now entering that phase of his career where he has to take the next step. It is where, regrettably, too many Kings forwards prospects have stagnated. That isn’t something that should weigh on or negatively impact Chromiak, but we’ve talked about played in this age range with offensive promise before and the Kings have seen too many of those players unable to take the next step to either a high-end AHL producer, with eyes on the NHL, or finding a way to make that production translate to the next level. The fact that Chromiak is the first restricted free agent the Kings came to terms with is unsurprising. He’s earned a new deal and the Kings were keen to award it.

There is ability and potential to take that next step. Could Chromiak score 25 goals in the AHL this season? Absolutely. If he can find that production on a consistent basis, it would put him in that upper echelon of potential NHL recalls down the road. Not expecting him to break camp with the big club or anything like that but it would be very encouraging to see him wedge his way into the discussion and I think he’s capable of doing that. If it doesn’t work out, though, take a strong training camp into a productive start in the AHL. No reason we couldn’t be talking about a Martin Chromiak as a leader offensively with Ontario this coming season and it’d be a great sign organizationally if we are.

From the team’s official release –

Chromiak, 22, set professional career-marks in goals (18), assists (21) and points (39) in 69 games with the Ontario Reign last season, the Kings’ American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate, while notching five power-play and two game-winning goals. He added one goal in two Calder Cup Playoff contests.

Selected in the fifth-round (128th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft, Chromiak has played in 196 career AHL games over parts of four seasons with Ontario, accumulating 48 goals and 51 assists for 99 points (48-51=99) with 14 power-play goals, seven game-winning goals and 58 penalty minutes (PIM). He has added a goal and assists (1-1=2) in five career Calder Cup Playoff contests.

Prior to turning pro, Chromiak appeared in 88 games for the Kingston Frontenacs of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) over two seasons (2019-20; 2021-22) where he posted 55 goals and 119 points (55-64=119), including a team-leading 44 goals (44-42=86) in the 2021-22 campaign. Before joining the Canadian junior ranks, Chromiak played for HC Dukla Trenčín of Slovak Extraliga, Slovakia’s top professional hockey league, collecting 26 points (12-14=26) with a cumulative plus-12 rating in 66 games over parts of three seasons (2018-21).

Internationally, the Ilava, Slovakia native has represented his home country in four International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) tournaments, including two IIHF Men’s World Championships (2025, 2023), one IIHF Men’s World Junior Championship (2021) and one IIHF Men’s Under-18 World Junior Championship (2019).