Kings sign Kenny Connors to entry-level contract

The Los Angeles Kings announced Thursday that the club has signed center Kenny Connors to a two-year, entry-level contract set to begin in the 2025-26 season.

Connors was originally chosen by Los Angeles in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Draft.

Through 40 appearances this season with the NCAA’s UMass Minutemen, Connors compiled 10 goals and 19 assists to rank sixth in team scoring with 29 points coupled with six penalty minutes and a plus-four rating. In all, through three seasons and 109 career contests in the collegiate ranks, Connors totaled 26 goals and 51 assists for 77 points highlighted by his freshman campaign where through 32 outings he put up nine goals and 17 assists for 26 points to earn a spot on Hockey East’s All-Rookie Team.

Prior to beginning his college career, Connors spent part of three seasons in the USHL split between the U.S. National Under-17 Team and the Dubuque Fighting Saints from 2019-22. In his final season, Connors neared point-per-game production as he registered 25 goals and 31 assists for 56 points in 61 outings. In all, through 113 career contests in the USHL, Connors collected 28 goals and 46 assists for 74 points.

A 22-year-old native of Glen Mills, Pa., Connors joined Team USA at the 2023 World Juniors where through seven contests he scored twice coupled with a plus-one rating and 25 penalty minutes en route to a bronze medal win.

Connors is the third player to sign an entry-level contract with Los Angeles in the past week following London Knights defenseman Jared Woolley, a 2024 sixth-round selection by the Kings, as well as Finnish-born blue-liner Otto Salin, a 2022 fifth rounder, both of whom landed three-year, entry-level agreements.

On the season, the Kings sit second in the Pacific Division with a 42-23-9 record and 93 points.