Former Jr. Kings goalie Mattias Sholl experiences full circle moment, signs with Ontario Reign

The Ontario Reign added some local flavor to its roster for next season, signing goaltender Mattias Sholl to a one-year AHL contract for the 2025-26 campaign.

In what will be Sholl’s first full professional season after he wrapped up a four-year NCAA run with Bemidji State University last spring, he won’t have to travel far for training camp. Sholl is a native of nearby Hermosa Beach and grew up playing in the Jr. Kings program based out of Toyota Sports Performance Center, where his father, Brad, formerly worked as the building’s General Manager.

He was always a Kings fan growing up, and although he recognizes he’s not quite ready for the NHL, taking his next step in the pro game with the organization he’s rooted for his whole life means a lot.

“It’s special,” Sholl said after finishing an offseason skate at the El Segundo facility on Tuesday. “The dream for me as a kid was always to play in the NHL, and play for the LA Kings. There are quite a few steps left for hopefully that to happen, but growing up watching Kings practices and just going to Kings games all the time, and to be in the situation I am now, just being close to it, it’s an incredible feeling, a full circle moment in a way.”

Since he found out there was an opportunity for him to sign the deal with Ontario, Sholl said he’s had to keep himself level-headed, somewhat fearful he’ll start thinking too far ahead about his ultimate goal.

“I try not to get too crazy and think too much about it, just because I want to succeed and I want to do well,” Sholl explained. “It’s crazy to be able to say I’m within the organization of the team I grew up cheering for.”

Since he moved on from the Jr. Kings program in 2018 and left home to continue his hockey career, it’s been a long road for Sholl to get to this point. First, he spent two seasons in Alaska playing for the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in the North American Hockey League (NAHL) before joining the USHL’s Youngstown Phantoms for the 2020-21 season.

Those junior experiences led him to Bemidji State, where he appeared in 117 NCAA contests from 2021-25. His best collegiate campaign was the 2023-24 year, which featured a 14-8-2 record in 24 appearances with three shutouts and a .910 save percentage to go along with a 2.48 goals-against average. Sholl’s performances helped the Beavers to a CCHA conference regular season title and earned him the league’s Goaltender of the Year award.

Each summer, he spends his time skating, training and preparing for the upcoming year at home in Southern California. That led to an opportunity two summers ago when Sholl received an invite to LA Kings Development Camp, which he felt was a great experience for him to compete and showcase himself against the team’s top prospects.

After his final season at Bemidji came to an end last March, Sholl signed with the Kings’ ECHL affiliate, the Greenville Swamp Rabbits. Although his first pro team wasn’t in the mix for a postseason berth, Sholl was able to get some playing time in the year’s final weeks, going 2-2-0 in four appearances with a .927 save percentage. It was a small sample size, but he showed he belonged.

“My time in Greenville was awesome,” Sholl said. “I was there for just about a month, and obviously, you’re going into a new situation where you don’t always know what to expect, but there was a great group of guys and I felt very welcomed. I just looked at it as an opportunity to kind of just get my name out there and maybe turn a few heads.”

Even with his good impression in the ECHL, Sholl wasn’t sure if there’d be room for him in North America this season and was working on a plan to head overseas and play in Europe. It turned out there was a better option available.

“I was set for that, and then when I got the call that [Ontario] was interested in signing the deal, that obviously was a no brainer; I wanted to have the opportunity to play here,” said Sholl. “Obviously, there’s a lot of work to be done, but I’m super excited about it all.”

Now that his contract is done and signed, Sholl said he’ll be focused on his training in El Segundo for the remainder of the summer.

“I’ll continue working out and training every day,” he said with a smile. “We’ve been on the ice like four times a week, and I’ll continue to work hard until training camp and be ready to go. I’ll have a little time with family, but otherwise I’ll be staying focused.”

While he’s very familiar with the Kings, having grown up in the South Bay with the ability to attend both practices and games, Sholl has yet to see a live Reign game in the Inland Empire. He does have a good excuse for that, as he’s been away from the area for seven consecutive hockey seasons while he chased his dream. His first one could very well be from inside the crease at Toyota Arena.

Sholl is the second goaltender the Reign have signed to an AHL contract this offseason, joining Isaiah Saville, who was announced earlier this month. It’s assumed that they’ll be battling in training camp with Ontario’s returning tandem from last season, Pheonix Copley and Erik Portillo.

Regardless of whether he’s in Southern California at the AHL level or potentially assigned to Greenville, Sholl should be seeing much higher temperatures than he dealt with during his previous career stops in Alaska, Ohio and Minnesota.

“That’s probably the No. 1 most exciting thing for me,” Sholl joked of the good weather he could be enjoying this year. “Not really. But after four years in Bemidji and time in Alaska as well, it’s nice to know I won’t be seeing negative 40 degrees. I’m absolutely thrilled either way, sunshine is what I need now.”

Sholl and Saville are two of the six players Ontario has signed to AHL contracts for the 2025-26 season, joining Jacob Doty, Jack Hughes, Jack Millar, John Parker-Jones and Tim Rego.