Joe Hicketts

Joseph Hicketts (born May 4, 1996) is a Canadian professional ice hockey defenceman currently playing for the Ontario Reign in the American Hockey League (AHL) under contract to the Los Angeles Kings of the National Hockey League (NHL).

Hicketts began his junior career after being selected 12th overall by the Victoria Royals in the 2011 WHL Bantam Draft. He had previously played for the Kamloops Bantam AAA Jardine Blazers, recording 18 goals and 41 assists in 51 games during the 2010–11 season, and spent the 2011–12 season at the Okanagan Hockey Academy in Penticton, British Columbia. In his first WHL season (2012–13), he played 67 games for the Royals, notching six goals and 18 assists. The following season, he served as an assistant captain, tallying six goals and 18 assists in 36 games before missing three months due to surgery for an upper-body injury in October 2013.

Undrafted in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft, Hicketts was invited to the Detroit Red Wings Development Camp and later participated in the 2014 NHL Prospects Tournament in Traverse City, Michigan. After attending the Red Wings’ main training camp, he signed a three-year, $1.9 million entry-level contract as a free agent on September 24, 2014. He was assigned to the Victoria Royals on October 2, 2014, and spent most of the 2014–15 season there, finishing second among WHL defencemen in scoring with 12 goals and 52 assists in 62 games. He was named to the WHL Western Conference Second All-Star Team and reassigned to the Grand Rapids Griffins of the AHL on April 23, 2015.

The next season, Hicketts again attended Red Wings development camp, the 2015 NHL Prospects Tournament, and main training camp before being assigned to the Royals on September 21, 2015. In 2015–16, he recorded eight goals and 53 assists in 59 games, tying for second among WHL defencemen in assists and finishing seventh in scoring. He set the Royals’ franchise records for most career points by a defenceman (173) and power-play assists (70). He was named to the WHL Western Conference First All-Star Team, named Western Conference Top Defenceman and Player of the Year, and was nominated for the Four Broncos Memorial Trophy. After the Royals were eliminated from the 2016 WHL playoffs, he joined the Grand Rapids Griffins for the 2016 Calder Cup playoffs.

Hicketts began his professional career with the Griffins after being assigned there on October 8, 2016. He was recalled by the Red Wings on January 21, 2018, making his NHL debut the next night against the New Jersey Devils, logging 15:13 of ice time and 4:22 on the penalty kill. He was returned to the Griffins on January 23, then recalled again on March 26, 2018, after recording three goals and seven assists in 63 AHL games. He earned his first two NHL points—assists on goals by Frans Nielsen and Darren Helm—in a 5–2 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins on March 27, 2018. He was reassigned to the Griffins on April 4, having appeared in five NHL games with three assists, a plus-five rating, two penalty minutes, two shots, nine hits, and 12 blocked shots.

He started the 2018–19 season with the Red Wings but was assigned to the Griffins on October 31, 2018, after eight NHL games in which he averaged 17:06 of ice time and ranked second among team defencemen with 15 hits. He was recalled under emergency conditions on April 1, 2019, after leading Griffins defencemen in scoring with three goals and 24 assists in 61 games. He played 11 NHL games that season and was reassigned to the Griffins on April 7. On July 17, 2019, the Red Wings re-signed him to a two-year contract, and on January 12, 2021, they assigned him to the Griffins.

As a free agent on July 28, 2021, Hicketts signed a two-year, two-way contract with the Minnesota Wild, spending the entire deal with their AHL affiliate, the Iowa Wild. On July 2, 2023, he signed a one-year, two-way contract with the Los Angeles Kings as a free agent. On March 20, 2025, the Kings extended his contract with a two-year, two-way deal worth an average annual value of $775,000.

Internationally, Hicketts captained Canada’s Winter Youth Olympic team to a bronze medal in 2012 and captained Team Pacific at the 2013 World U-17 Hockey Challenge. He represented Canada at the 2014 IIHF World U18 Championships, recording one goal and three assists in seven games and winning a bronze medal.