Devin Setoguchi completes comeback, signs 1-year deal with Kings

Devin Setoguchi has made the Los Angeles Kings.

The team announced it had come to terms on a one-year, two-way contract with the 29-year-old scoring winger. Setoguchi has not played in the NHL in almost two years, but the Kings needed to add scoring depth on the wing after losing Marian Gaborik for eight weeks at the World Cup of Hockey.

Setoguchi was at Kings camp on a professional tryout, though initially it appeared the chances of his making the team appeared slim thanks to LA’s minimal salary cap space.

“I had a talk with (assistant general manager Rob Blake) the other day, and how thankful I am,” Setoguchi said Monday according to LA Kings Insider. “I started this chance on a comeback last year, worked into this year, knew coming into camp that there was $57,000 in cap space. That’s kind of draining on a guy, anyway. So for things to work out in the right way and for me to get my opportunity, it’s not like I’m here and I’m here to stay. It’s still, for me, an everyday evaluation on my attitude, my work ethic, my play, my ability, so I’m just thankful to be here, but at the same time I know how important and how critical it is for me to push myself every day in order to get back.”

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Setoguchi last played in the NHL on Nov. 22, 2014 with the Calgary Flames. After that season – where he also spent time in the AHL with the Adirondack Flames – Setoguchi entered rehab for substance abuse.

This was the low point for Setoguchi, who was once seen as a potential goal scoring ace in the NHL.

In 2005, the San Jose Sharks took Setoguchi was the eighth overall pick in the draft. He flourished almost immediately with 31 goals and 65 points in his first full NHL season in 2008-09. But after then, he never touched more than 22 goals. Setoguchi was traded to the Minnesota Wild in the deal that brought Brent Burns to the Sharks after the 2010-11 season. From then on he didn’t score more than 19 goals in a season. In his last full NHL season, in 2013-14 with the Winnipeg Jets, Setoguchi scored 11 goals.

He signed with the Flames before the 2014-15 season and tried to put them at ease on the contract by promising them he would be sober during the deal. But in an interview with Sportsnet last year he noted “that (sobriety) lasted all of a couple of weeks.”

Last season Setoguchi had a tryout with the Toronto Maple Leafs, but didn’t make the team. He said he had been out of rehab for a short period of time and wasn’t in hockey shape.

“I was out for like three months, but I had to lose 30 pounds, so I lost 30 pounds, but that’s not hockey training,” Setoguchi said. “That’s a lot of cross training. A lot of little diet supplementary stuff. It’s not building a lot of muscle. You’re losing fat to try to slim down so I wasn’t able to gain strength so I was really on a different training schedule than I would be for a hockey player.”

Setoguchi then went to Switzerland to play with Davos, where he had 11 goals and 13 assists in 30 games played.

In five preseason games with Los Angeles, Setoguchi scored one goal and added an assist. The Kings were impressed with how he was able to overcome a tough situation as a tryout and stay focused on making the team.

“He can still play at a high pace,” Kings coach Darryl Sutter said. “Not all players have the great desire to do that every day. He’s still here, so that means he’s got a good assessment. It doesn’t make sense going farther than that. Came in in good shape, came in and played a pace, came in and played the way that we need to play. Just continue to every day just try and help him and give him some direction, and then he takes the ball.”

It seems like the Kings will give Setoguchi a decent-sized role. He was reportedly on a line with Anze Kopitar and Dustin Brown in one of the team’s more recent practices. Los Angeles opens the season Wednesday at the Sharks. Setoguchi and his wife maintain his offseason residence in San Jose.

“We’re all pulling for Seto. I played with him for three years and he went through some tough times when he was here obviously and got a little worse when he left. He was a great teammate and was someone that was very good to me and someone who had some very good years in San Jose,” Sharks forward Logan Couture said. “We’re all very happy to see him get another shot in the NHL, turn his life around and hopefully he plays well for them … but not tomorrow night.”

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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