The LA Kings have inked a deal with defenseman Jordan Spence for two years, with an average annual value (AAV) of $1,500,000, extending through the 2025-26 season.

Last season, 23-year-old Spence played 71 games for the Kings, setting career records in games played, assists (21), and points (23, calculated as 2-21), making him one of four team defensemen to exceed 20 points. With only 12 penalty minutes (PIM), he had the least among all Kings players who played a minimum of 70 games. This also made him one of only five league defensemen to play at least 70 games with 12 or fewer PIM. On April 15, Spence participated in his 100th career NHL game, making him the sixth defenseman from the 2019 NHL Draft to reach that milestone. The 5-11, 180-pound player also played five Stanley Cup Playoff games, earning his first career playoff point (1, calculated as 0-1) in the second game of the first round.

The Kings initially drafted Spence in the fourth round (95th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft. On March 10, 2022, he made his NHL debut, becoming the first Australian-born (from Manly, Australia) player to participate in an NHL game. Over three seasons, Spence has scored four goals and accumulated 33 points (4-29=33) in 101 regular-season games, along with one assist in eight Stanley Cup Playoff matches. Before joining the Kings, Spence played 103 games with the Ontario Reign, the Kings’ AHL affiliate, scoring eight goals and earning 87 points (8-79=87). In the 2021-22 season, Spence was named to the AHL All-Rookie Team and AHL First All-Star Team.

Spence, who was raised in Charlottetown, PEI, played for the Moncton Wildcats and Val-d’Or Foreurs in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) for three seasons. Throughout 160 regular-season games, he accumulated 141 points (25-116=141) and added another 24 points (3-21=24) in 19 playoff games. From 2019-21, Spence was consecutively selected for the QMJHL First All-Star Team and won the Emile Bouchard Trophy as Defenseman of the Year at the end of the 2019-20 season. In the previous season, he received the QMJHL Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year Award (Raymond Lagace Trophy), and was selected for the All-Rookie Team.

Spence, a dual citizen of Canada and Japan, competes for Team Canada internationally. He has participated in two IIHF tournaments, specifically the 2019 Under-18 Men’s World Championship and the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship. In the latter, he contributed to the team’s silver medal victory, playing alongside current teammate Quinton Byfield.