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FN AHL Report Cards: Carter King developed in first pro year alongside Wranglers captain
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Photo credit: David Moll/Calgary Wranglers
Paige Siewert
Jun 4, 2026, 12:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 4, 2026, 02:02 EDT
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Calgary-born player Carter King joined the Calgary Wranglers on an amateur try-out contract at the end of the 2024-25 season after wrapping up his season as captain of the University of Denver and signing an entry-level deal with the Flames. After a season in the NCAA averaging just shy of a point per game, he came to the AHL and kept that pace for his two game preview.
He played his first full season with the Wranglers in 2025-26.

What were expectations for Carter King?

As primarily a centre and secondarily a left winger, King helped fill a gap down the middle for the Wranglers. He was coming to the team more in the middle of the pack age-wise as a 24 year old. He wasn’t expected to be pushing anyone out for an NHL spot right from the jump but expected to be a competitive choice in the AHL lineup. His immediate adaptation to the AHL in his first games was promising and he was expected to be an option for depth scoring in the Wranglers lineup.

How did Carter King perform in 2025-26?

Carter King ended up having an up and down year. To start the season, his role was not quite defined, so he spent quite a bit of time on the fourth line. Towards the end of the season, he was trusted on the penalty kill and higher up the lineup with the likes of Clark Bishop and Carter Wilkie on the third line or a mix of Lucas Ciona, Alex Gallant and Parker Bell on the fourth line. 
He and David Silye would swap out of the lineup at times as fourth line centre. When Rory Kerins and Sam Morton were both healthy and available, that only really left a line for the captain to centre then one more spot at centre. If Silye was in the lineup, King’s best spot to be in the lineup was on the wing. King did a good job on Clark Bishop’s wing and was an option to take a face-off if Bishop got waved out. 
Carter King’s stat lines ended up finishing lower than what was expected and likely what he expected out of himself. He played in almost every game last season with 66 appearances. He only really missed time due to an upper body injury in mid-February due to a cheap shot along the boards in a road game in San Jose. In those 66 games, King put up 13 points consisting of five goals and eight assists. His first two months of the season were pretty quiet on the points end, and most of his success was happening from late December on. 
King’s leadership and maturity work very well on this team and working with Bishop really helped him develop his pro game. He found a lot of chemistry with the Wranglers captain and talked about how easy he is to play with and predictable for passes in a mid-season check-in with FlamesNation. 

What’s the future outlook for Carter King?

Carter King was a complementary addition to the Wranglers lineup and has some local ties to the team already coming together next year. His former teammate, who he won a National Championship with Kent Anderson, has already been added to the roster on an AHL contract for next season. Anderson praised King’s guidance in joining the Wranglers for practice and their final two games of the season after being fresh off another National title with Denver. 
King is a restricted free agent now and Calgary holds his NHL rights. It makes sense for the Wranglers to utilize him for at least another year and see if his development in hopefully a more successful season as a team helps him find the groove he had in college hockey.

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