University of Denver captain Carter King is currently attempting to win his third national championship in five years with the Pioneers. As such, the 23-year-old undrafted forward is generating interest from multiple NHL teams on the free agent market as he looks to turn pro – including from his hometown Flames, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff wrote recently.
King, who checks in at 5’10” and 190 lbs, ranks fourth on the Pios in scoring this season with a career-high 18-18–36 line in 38 appearances thus far. He’s also posted a +14 rating and is a nominee for this year’s NCHC Defensive Forward of the Year.
Since King will turn 24 in August before the Sep. 15 cutoff date, he’s only eligible for a one-year entry-level contract for the 2025-26 campaign. He wasn’t on an NHL club’s reserve list at the trade deadline, so he’s ineligible to play down the stretch in the regular season.
King has spent much of the year as Denver’s first-line center, currently anchoring a line with a unit with Blackhawks 2022 third-rounder Aidan Thompson and Panthers 2022 seventh-rounder Jack Devine. He’s helped the latter along to a second consecutive 50-point campaign that should make him a Hobey Baker Award nominee again after he earned a nomination in 2023-24.
He was initially eligible for selection in the 2019 NHL draft, but was understandably not on teams’ radars after spending the majority of the season in the U18 AAA Alberta Elite Hockey League. Only in his post-draft season did he graduate to junior ’A’ play with the Surrey Eagles in British Columbia before serving as a frequent scratch as a true freshman for Denver in the shortened 2020-21 campaign.
Playing that low on the ladder at that point in his development generally doesn’t bode well for a player’s NHL ceiling. Calgary’s prospect pool isn’t particularly deep down the middle, though, and could use an intriguing infusion in King. Their pool, which ranked 13th in the league in The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler’s mid-season overview, only has three centers among their top 15 prospects. One of them, 2023 No. 16 overall pick Samuel Honzek, played on the wing in his NHL debut back in October.
Whoever King signs with, he’s likely destined for a full-time AHL role next season. The Flames only have 23 players signed to standard contracts for next season, though, so there’s plenty of room for King in the system as things stand.