Villalta, Allard signed to 1-year extensions

The Kings re-signed goalie Matt Villalta and defenseman Frederic Allard to one-year, two-way contract extensions Friday.

Villalta’s deal could be worth up to $787,500 and Allard’s could pay him as much as $750,000.

Villalta has emerged as the top goaltender for the Kings’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Ontario Reign. Last season, he posted a 28-10-7 record in 46 regular-season appearances and won two of his three playoff outings. Those 28 victories were good for third in the AHL over the course of the campaign.

Though he did not end up dressing for a game, Villalta was recalled on an emergency basis during the Stanley Cup Playoffs when No. 1 goalie Jonathan Quick was dealing with a potential health issue. That further solidified his status as the third goalie on the Kings’ organizational depth chart behind Quick and backup Cal Petersen.

Villalta will turn 24 on Sunday and has plenty of runway in his career, which began when he was selected by the Kings in the third round of the 2017 draft. There could be imminent upward mobility for Villalta, too. Quick will turn 37 this season, which is the final one on his current contract. The Kings have nearly $11 million in cap space committed to their two roster goaltenders, more than all but two of the NHL’S 32 franchises, though there has been no indication that the Kings will shake up their situation in net ahead of next season.

Allard was acquired in March to bolster the right side of the Reign’s defense, given that Sean Durzi and Jordan Spence were pressed into duty with the big club after injuries sidelined Drew Doughty and Sean Walker.

And bolster it he did. After scoring a mere five points in 36 games with Nashville’s top minor-league affiliate, the Milwaukee Admirals, Allard notched twice as many in just 15 contests for Ontario. That production carried over into the playoffs, where he contributed three points in five games from the blue line.

At 24, Allard is still seeking to stick at the NHL level, where he played a solitary game, his debut, two seasons ago for Nashville, which drafted him in 2016’s third round. He flirted with a point-pergame pace over the span of his final two seasons of junior hockey and starred in an offensive-oriented role for the Chicago Wolves in the AHL. In addition to his skill, he brings a high compete level, although it has not always translated to consistent play or production.

The Kings made what figures to be their biggest move of the offseason earlier this week when they landed forward Kevin Fiala in a trade with the Minnesota Wild and signed the 25-year-old to a seven-year contract worth about $55 million.

In addition to the aforementioned signings, they also extended the deals of forward T.J. Tynan and defenseman Jacob Moverare. Also on Friday, the organization resigned minor-league enforcer Jacob Doty, 29, to a fresh AHL contract.