After making NHL history as the first Australian-born player with Japanese citizenship to play in the league two years ago, Jordan Spence has quietly become a pillar of the LA Kings' defense corps.

Listed at 5'11’ and 180 pounds, many questioned whether Spence would be capable of handling the physical rigors of the best ice hockey league in the world. Now two years after his debut, Jordan Spence is demonstrating through his consistent play that he can more than handle his own in the NHL.

On the season, the 24-year-old blueliner has 23 points (3 G, 20 A), with 19 of these points being at even strength. Spence is one point shy of his best point-producing season and is projected to break that mark with 26 points this year. His rating of +16 is second best among Kings’ defenders behind Joel Edmundson (+24).

In points per 60 minutes played in all situations this season, Jordan Spence is averaging 1.182, ahead of seasoned veterans Vladislav Gavrikov and Joel Edmundson. Spence has also come up big in crucial moments, as evidenced by his seven game-winning points, good for second amongst LA Kings' defensemen. 

On a team that has struggled over the past few seasons to get offense from its defensemen, Spence’s ten primary assists and ten secondary assists rank just behind Brandt Clarke at 13 and 12 respectively. Simply put, LA’s offense is greatly impacted by whether Jordan Spence is on the ice or not. 60.7% of the Kings’ goals have been scored with Spence on the ice, only Alex Laferriere and Brandt Clarke have a higher On-Ice Goal percentage.  The fact that Spence has managed to be this impactful with a TOI average of just 16:40, fifth among the Kings’ six regular defensemen, makes one wonder what he could do with more ice time.

Perhaps more surprising has been the added physicality that Spence has brought to his game this season.  Spence has been credited with 67 hits so far this season, good for third behind Mikey Anderson (108) and Joel Edmundson (93). Spence has repeatedly shown that being an effective checker in this league has much more to do with picking the right spot and coming in at the correct angle than being a certain height or weight.

With veteran defenseman and franchise legend Drew Doughty turning 36 later this year, Jordan Spence has played well enough to pick up any of the slack should head coach Jim Hiller decide that it’s time to manage Doughty’s minutes going forward.

The future core of LA’s blue line has clearly arrived.