The Manitoba Moose announced today that the team has signed forwards Ben King and Tyson Empey alongside defenseman Darick Louis-Jean to one-year contracts through the 2024-25 season.
Getting to Know Ben King
Ben King, 22, posted 30 points (15G, 15A) and 20 PIMs in 61 AHL games for the San Diego Gulls in the 2023-24 season. Hailing from Vernon, British Columbia, King ranked eighth on the Gulls in points, his 15 goals tied him for fifth on the team. In his first professional season, he finished third in scoring among all San Diego rookies.
Prior to King turning pro with the Gulls, he got his junior hockey start with his hometown Vernon Vipers of the BCHL (British Columbia Hockey League). He suited up in two games for the Vipers in 2017-18 before playing seven games with the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL.
King then found his footing in the WHL as he played the entire 2018-19 season with Swift Current, and part of 2019-20 with the Broncos before being traded to the Red Deer Rebels. King only played the majority of a season with Red Deer once, which came in the 2021-22 season. He scored 105 points (52G, 53A), racked up 57 PIMs and posted a plus-minus of plus-36 in 68 games that season. King was also an alternate captain for Red Deer from the 2020-21 season to the 2022-23 season.
Ben has shown himself to be a steady forward who can score in all sorts of situations. This addition for the Moose adds more size and speed to the team. King is listed at 6-foot-3 and 203 pounds, he plays hard and can use his size to defend the puck and also knock opposing players off the puck. The Moose can create a new identity with the size they have sought this off-season and the many new faces that will suit up for the team.
Getting to Know Tyson Empey
Tyson Empey, 29, posted 42 points (19G, 23A) and 119 PIMs in 64 ECHL games for the South Carolina Stingrays. Empey’s path to professional hockey took him eight years total, spending four seasons with the Flin Flon Bombers of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) and four seasons in NCAA Division III at the State University of New York at Geneseo where he suited up for their men’s hockey team. His college career is crowned by three consecutive NCAA III SUNYAC championships from the 2017-18 season to his final season in 2019-20.
Empey turned pro in the 2020-21 season when he joined the Rapid City Rush of the ECHL, he posted 18 points (6G, 12A) and 59 PIMs in 63 games. This was enough for Empey to get his first shot in the AHL with the Tucson Roadrunners where he posted 12 points (3G, 9A) and 100 PIMs in 63 games. He then struggled to stick in the AHL and found himself suiting up with the Atlanta Gladiators of the ECHL after 16 games with Tucson in 2022-23. In 2023-24, he played five games for the eventual 2024 Calder Cup-winning Hershey Bears, but then again was sent down to the ECHL to play for the South Carolina Stingrays.
Like Mark Liwiski, Tyson Empey will bring a physical brand of hockey and hope his ECHL numbers can transition to the Moose. Empey is set to serve a big role following the void of many Moose who departed this past off-season. Listed at 6-foot-2 and 205 pounds, the Swift Current, Saskatchewan native will bring veteran experience and bolster the Moose’s toughness and depth heading into the 2024-25 season.
Getting to Know Darick Louis-Jean
The Manitoba Moose continue to pad their defensive depth and Darick Louis-Jean is no stranger to the Winnipeg Jets franchise. He has spent the past two seasons with the Jets’ ECHL affiliate, the Norfolk Admirals, although the Jets and Admirals didn’t begin their franchise affiliation until the 2023-24 season.
Louis-Jean, 23, played a big role with the Admirals in the 2023-24 season, he posted 27 points (9G, 18A), 66 PIMs and boasted a plus-minus of plus-20 in 59 games. He played in 10 postseason games for the Admirals where he posted three points (1G, 2A), 10 PIMs, and a plus-minus of minus-two. Prior to his pro hockey career, Louis-Jean spent three seasons in the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) where he suited up for Gatineau Olympiques and Rimouski Oceanic. He also spent some time with the Fort Wayne Spacemen of the USPHL Premier and the Quad City Storm of the SPHL.
Louis-Jean made his professional debut in 2021-22 with the Quad City Storm of the SPHL although he quickly found himself in the ECHL after 13 games with the Storm. This would be the beginning of his run in the ECHL where he showed signs of significant progression and positive development when claimed off waivers by the Norfolk Admirals.
Listed at 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, the Montreal, Quebec-born defenseman has found a nice two-way defensive game where he excels in all three zones. Louis-Jean was known as a QMJHL standout and plays the game with bite. He’s got a layer to his game that mixes the best qualities of a shutdown defenseman and an offensive defenseman which is certainly an asset to the Moose heading into the 2024-25 season.
