Kings sign Francesco Pinelli to one-year, two-way deal with Reign impact

The Kings kept Francesco Pinelli in the fold with a one-year, two-way contract worth $850,000 at the NHL level, and the move reads like an organizational vote of confidence in Ontario’s next wave as much as it does a depth signing. Pinelli is 23, already has 202 AHL regular-season games on his résumé and just finished his best pro season with the Ontario Reign.

Pinelli produced 14 goals, 21 assists and 35 points in 65 games last season, finishing plus-16 while giving the Reign a forward who could tilt shifts without needing the puck all night. He added two points in five Calder Cup Playoff games and scored a shorthanded goal, the kind of detail that matters in a league where middle-six forwards earn ice time by surviving the hard minutes and stealing a few back. Across his AHL career, Pinelli now has 42 goals, 84 points, five game-winning goals, two shorthanded goals and 120 penalty minutes.

That profile helps explain why Los Angeles chose to keep him now. The Kings drafted Pinelli 42nd overall in 2021, then signed him to a three-year entry-level contract in April 2022 after he had been named captain of the Kitchener Rangers in his second OHL season. He is not a fresh flyer or a late-blooming camp invite; he is a player the organization has tracked since junior and continued to develop through Ontario.

The timing also puts him on the same summer clock as the rest of the system. Los Angeles opens development camp from June 29 through July 2 at Toyota Sports Performance Center in El Segundo, with forward groups, defense groups and scrimmages spread across the four days. That camp has become a clean sorting mechanism for the Kings: returning AHL pieces, draft picks and new prospects all land on the same ice, and the front office gets a direct read on who is ready to move toward Ontario or even force a look in Los Angeles.

The Kings used the same window a year ago to run a 38-player camp roster, including 21 forwards, 13 defensemen and four goaltenders. Pinelli now sits in the middle of that kind of competition with a real chance to separate from the crowd. His May playoff shorthanded goal against Coachella Valley showed a player who can affect games in more than one phase, and that versatility gives him a path that is still open if he turns this summer into a true separation point.