LOS ANGELES—Owen Sound Attack goaltender Carter George (of the Ontario Hockey League) made a very successful start to his professional hockey career.
Carter has been reassigned by the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL) to the Ontario (California) Reign hockey team of the American Hockey League (AHL). “Playing in his professional debut Saturday night, goaltender Carter George stopped all 33 shots that came his way to lead the Ontario Reign to a 4-0 victory over the San Jose Barracuda,” the Reign release on the game read.
“Once the OHL season is done for a team, any signed NHL players are usually reassigned to finish up the year in the AHL,” said Mike George (Carter’s father, who is originally from Manitoulin Island) last week. “This is another steppingstone for Carter to learn his craft and basically see how the pros do it.”
“It is a big step, especially if he gets into a game or two, towards developing to be a professional player,” he said noting when Carter got the call from the Kings as to the reassignment, “He was very excited.”
“His goal this past season was to help get his OHL team into the playoffs (which they did, but were defeated in the first round of the playoffs),” said Mr. George. “Carter came home on Thursday and then got the call on Friday from the Kings saying that he was being reassigned. He was on a plane to L.A. on Sunday.”
“Carter will finish the season with the Ontario (California) Reign team,” said Mr. Carter. “He may play in a game or two this weekend and he will be at the team’s practices and games for the rest of the season.”
“Because of his age (Carter will be 19 in May), until he is 20 next year he would either have to play in the NHL or the OHL, and he isn’t expected to make the NHL next season,” said Mr. George. He explained the reassignment, “is another step toward his progression toward the NHL. It’s a positive thing, not just for the hockey aspect but to gain more life skills and learn from the pros.”
The Ontario Reign reported on its Facebook page, “(Carter) George, 18, recently completed his 2024-2025 campaign with Owen Sound, where he appeared in 47 regular-season games and four playoff contests. During 47 appearances and over 2,700 minutes, George led his team to a postseason appearance with a .909 save percentage, which ranked seventh-best among OHL goalies with at least 10 regular-season games played.”
The Thunder Bay, Ontario native had signed a three-year entry-level contract with the Kings on July 25, 2024, after he was selected 57th overall in the 2024 NHL Draft. He then participated in both the 2024 Rookie Faceoff in Los Angeles as well as L.A. Kings training camp, where he made his NHL preseason debut, the Reign reported.
“A year ago, George posted a .907 save percentage and led the OHL with four shutouts while securing a record of 23-21-6 during the 2023-2024 year. The six foot one inch, 195-pound netminder turned aside more shots than any goaltender across all four major junior leagues in North America, stopping 1,744 of 1,923 attempts in his direction. George finished third in the OHL in both games played (56) and save percent (.907) and was one of eight goaltenders to maintain a .900 save percentage or better throughout the campaign,” the release continued.
Carter represented Canada at the 2025 World Junior Championship, posting a 1.76 goals-against average and a .936 save percentage in four appearances. He was named a Top Three Player on his team, leading all tournament goaltenders in both categories. In addition, he played for his country in the 2024 Under-18 World Junior Championships, posting a 2.33 goals against average and .915 save percentage to lead Canada to a 6-0 record and a gold medal. He was chosen to the tournament all-star team and named the best goaltender of the tournament.
Recently, the 2024-2025 OHL coaches’ poll, that provides member club coaches with the opportunity to recognize the top three players in 20 different skill categories within their own conference, was announced. In the Western Conference, Carter George was selected by the coaches as the best puck-handling goalie and second in the poll for best shootout goalie.
