Three Players Signed To Contracts

Kaleb Lawrence, Taylor Ward, and Joe Hicketts have been signed to contracts. Lawrence signed his three-year, entry-level contract yesterday, and became official today. Lawrence becomes the second prospect to their entry-level contract this week (Aatu Jamsen was the other). The 21-year-old finished with 37 points (20 G- 17 A) in 58 games. He split time with the Ottawa 67’s and London Knights in the OHL. He’ll play in the Memorial Cup this week for London.

Ward and Hicketts will return to the organization after signing one-year deals last summer. Ward registered 32 points (11 G – 21 A) in 71 games for the Reign, while having a complete turnaround of a season from a year ago. He tied Tyler Madden and TJ Tynan for the team lead with seven points in the Calder Cup playoffs.

Hicketts missed nearly four months with an injury but showed he can bring offense to the blue line when he suited up. The 28-year-old defenseman registered 30 (1 G – 19 A) points in 20 regular season games and spent time on both power-play units. He also added six points in the playoffs, which tied him for the team lead for a defenseman with Brandt Clarke.

Ward and Hicketts are good organizational depth signings and I expect both to start the upcoming season in Ontario with Lawrence. However, both players will need to clear waivers if they do get assigned to Ontario, while Lawrence will be waiver-exempt.