6th year defenseman Jamie McBain(5) signed a one-year two-way contract with Los Angeles Kings after agreeing to a pto with affiliate Manchester Monarchs.
He played 6 AHL games with the farm club scoring a goal and adding three assists with a +3 rating before the parent club came calling to fill in some spots that needed coverage on their blue line.
Originally a Carolina Hurricanes‘ 2nd round pick in the 2006 draft (#36 overall), the 6’2″ 205 lbs. d-man spent the first four years of his career with the team but unfortunately as time passed started to show declining returns.
After the 2012 lockout it definitely appears that he’d lost some of his step.
He managed to pick it up slightly last season after a trade to Buffalo Sabres but not enough for them to revisit extending the unrestricted free agent.
A training camp invite of Arizona Coyotes, they only really had a peak before releasing him.
There was a bit of a murmur that he was set to leave for the KHL but shortly thereafter he signed his tryout deal.
Injuries and a misfortune, along with a sliver of salary cap room, had him at the right place at the right now. Maybe it was a bit of mastery forsight too.
The still young-ish 26-year old will either have to step up his offensive numbers (25-67-92 in 276 NHL games) or start using some of that size to shut down the attackers.
It’s a coin flip to see how this one materializes. It really could become a great fit though.
Original story: 11/14-14
He appeared in 26 games with LA Kings scoring 3 goals and 6 assists with a +4 rating, making him accountable enough to keep around.
They wasted no time as free agency started re-signing him to a one-year, tw0-way extension.
Starting the season with a new contract, the 27-year old should be able to connect on the score sheet more often and continue to elevate his game.