Kings Keep A Familiar Reign Veteran In The Pipeline

Veteran forward Jacob Doty secures his place as a cornerstone of the Ontario Reign by signing on for an impressive eighth season, offering leadership and experience to a dynamic roster.

The Ontario Reign are keeping a familiar piece in place for another season, bringing back veteran forward Jacob Doty on an AHL contract for 2026-27.

Ontario announced the move on X on Monday, and it extends Doty’s run with the club to eight seasons. That kind of longevity is rare in the AHL, especially on a roster that changes as prospects move through the Kings’ system. Doty has been with the Reign for the last seven consecutive years, dating back to the 2019-20 season, and he remains the longest-tenured player on the roster.

His role is pretty clear at this point. Doty isn’t there to drive offense or pile up points. He’s there for the hard minutes, the physical edge, and the kind of dependable depth that keeps a team steady over the grind of a season.

That showed up again in 2025-26. Doty finished with two goals, two assists and four points in 48 games. He also appeared in the Reign’s first playoff game before sitting out the final four as a healthy scratch.

He led Ontario in fights and penalty minutes during the regular season, another reminder of the style he brings every night he’s in the lineup. Even when he wasn’t dressed for every game, Doty still served as a veteran presence for the group and was an assistant captain for some games this past season.

For Ontario, the new deal brings back a player who knows the organization inside and out and gives the Reign a steady voice for the younger players coming through the system.

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