The Los Angeles Kings have signed right-winger Matt Luff to a one-year contract extension. The contract is worth a total of $700,000 and carries an annual average of $700,000. The extension will keep him in the Kings organization through the 2020-21 season.
The Los Angeles Kings have re-signed RW Matt Luff to a 1-year, two-way contract worth $700,000 at the NHL level.
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) October 5, 2020
Matt Luff Signs
Originally, the Kings signed Luff to an entry-level contract in 2016, as he was an undrafted free agent who had gotten an invitation to their development camp. So far through his NHL career, Matt Luff has played in just 51 games. Over those games, he has nine goals and seven assists for a total of 16 points. This puts him on an early career pace of about 26 points in a full 82 game season on average. Last season, he spent the majority of it playing for the Ontario Reign, the Kings AHL affiliate team. In 30 games, he scored nine goals and 15 assists for a total of 24 points. He received a call up later in the season and played 18 games with the Kings. In those games, he scored one goal and four assists for five points.
How This Impacts the Future
Still just 23 years old, Luff has plenty of time left to develop. In his short stints with the Kings, he’s looked very solid and has provided some much-needed depth scoring for them. Last season, he played a major role for the Reign, as he was one of their most consistent scorers. Even though he gave the Reign steady offence, his goal is to play in the NHL. The Reign will have plenty of offensive weaponry coming in next season with players such as Alex Turcotte, Tyler Madden, Samuel Fagemo, and Akil Thomas; so Luff’s production won’t be too sorely missed.
Luff’s first priority is going to be making the Kings, so he will need to have himself a very big training camp. Realistically, he should make the team next season, but his playing time could be limited. Look for him to be an extra forward who will get rotated in games periodically. There’s still a chance he goes back to the AHL though, especially if the Kings would rather him play big minutes then sit in the press-box as a scratch.
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