The Kings have added another goalie under NHL contract, inking depth netminder Jacob Ingham to a one-year, two-way deal with a $775K cap hit. He was promptly loaned to the ECHL’s Greenville Swamp Rabbits without being placed on waivers.
Ingham, 23, was a sixth-round pick of the Kings in 2018. He stayed with the Kings’ AHL and ECHL affiliates after turning pro in 2020, but a back injury cost him the entire 2022-23 campaign and caused the Kings not to issue him a qualifying offer when his entry-level contract expired last summer. As such, Ingham became a UFA and could sign a contract with any NHL club.
He remained in the Kings organization nonetheless, inking an AHL contract with their affiliate, the Ontario Reign, to continue developing in the organization. Ingham has responded with his best showing in the pros, posting a 3-2-0 record and .917 SV% in six appearances with the Reign and a career-high .918 SV% and 16-6-1 record in 25 games with ECHL Greenville.
The Kings regain his exclusive NHL rights by signing Ingham to a deal for the remainder of the season. Given his age, he’ll be an RFA this summer if the Kings issue him a qualifying offer, which looks like a likely scenario given his continued development in the minors and their lack of other notable young netminders signed other than former University of Michigan standout Erik Portillo.
Lol. Blake is just scrambling now.
Blake did a great job of restocking the farm, but has failed to turn enough of these assets into useful NHL pieces. Bad contracts, bad trades. Failure to address ongoing goalie problems. Maybe a new GM might figure it out?
Good signing and Well deserved for Ingham