Los Angeles Kings sign Taylor Ward to one-year deal

The Los Angeles Kings have signed forward Taylor Ward to a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000.

Ward was not given a qualifying offer earlier in the day, but the new deal keeps him from becoming a UFA.

This is Ward’s third one-year deal with the Kings, having spent his entire pro career with the AHL’s Ontario Reign. He’s coming off of a nine-goal, 26-point campaign this year, his first full season of pro hockey. In 87 career games, he has 36 points and 55 penalty minutes.

The 25-year-old signed with the Kings as an undrafted free agent in 2022 after finishing his four year at the University of Nebraska-Omaha. He was a consistent contributor throughout his college career, scoring a career-high 19 goals and 39 points in 38 games as a senior.

Ward’s father, Dixon, was a seventh-round pick by Vancouver in 1988. The 1996 Calder Cup champion and MVP scored 95 goals and 224 points in 537 games over 10 years in the NHL, with stints in Vancouver, Toronto, Los Angeles, Buffalo, Boston and the New York Rangers.

It was a busy day for the Kings, who elected to not offer qualifying deals to a handful of players. Those players include Jaret Anderson-Dolan, Zack MacEwen, Lias Andersson, Aidan Dudas, Nate Schnarr, Matthew Vilalta, Tobie Bisson, David Hrenak and Jacob Ingham. Ward is the only one of the group to have signed a deal as of now.

The Kings have $4.536 million in projected cap space, according to Cap Friendly. SAmuel Fagemo, Tyler Madden, Akil Thomas and Tobias Bjornfot are the RFAs of note, while Joonas Korpisalo and Alexander edler are both pending UFAs.