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Jacob Moverare turns the page on California. The 27-year-old Swedish defenseman has left the Los Angeles Kings organization to sign a two-season deal with EV Zug in the Swiss National League. The news, official since July 28, closes a North American chapter of 111 NHL games and opens an adventure at the heart of the Swiss elite, where the central Switzerland club harbors clear European ambitions.
From the Kings to central Switzerland
Trained at Frölunda, where he lifted the Champions Hockey League twice, Moverare was drafted in the fourth round by the Kings in 2016.
EV Zug made the Swede's arrival official with a sober press release. Moverare arrives with a contract running until spring 2028. Sports director Reto Kläy welcomed the signing of "a complete defenseman, capable of stabilizing our zone as well as making clean breakouts." A significant investment for a league where foreign quotas weigh heavily on payrolls.
Trained at Frölunda, where he lifted the Champions Hockey League twice, Moverare was drafted in the fourth round by the Kings in 2016. Four seasons alternating between the NHL and the AHL with the Ontario Reign never sufficed to earn him a permanent spot in the top-six defense of a Los Angeles team in constant restructuring.
A quiet exit from Los Angeles
With the Kings, Moverare neither underperformed nor stood out. His 111 NHL appearances, spread over four campaigns, sum up the story of a reliable rotation player who was never undisputed. Last season, used in rotation without ever securing a regular starting role, he failed to convince a franchise that wanted to rejuvenate its defensive corps around Brandt Clarke and the ageless Drew Doughty.
His departure frees up cap space for a Kings team continuing its transition. The Swede leaves California through the back door, but with the respect of a locker room that unanimously praised his professionalism and discretion.
A defenseman built for the National League
In Zug, Moverare finds a league he knows from facing it with Frölunda. The National League, dense and fast, suits his frame (1.91 m, 91 kg) as well as his style: lateral mobility, good positioning sense, clean breakouts without unnecessary risk. Not an offensive cannon—his NHL career stats are above all those of a stay-at-home defenseman—but a man capable of eating up twenty minutes a night without making costly mistakes.
The Zug club, third in the 2025-2026 regular season before falling in the playoff semifinals, is banking on defensive stability to take the final step. Moverare will find a leading role there, far from the California turnover.
Zug's Scandinavian core strengthens
The arrival of Moverare extends a trend: Zug already fielded Norwegian Mathias Emilio Pettersen and Dane Oliver Lauridsen. With the Swede's arrival, the Zug locker room bolsters its Nordic colony, an asset as much cultural as tactical in a league where team cohesion is often built through linguistic affinities.
For Moverare, Switzerland also offers what Los Angeles could not guarantee a complementary player: a respected league, a defined role, a human-scale quality of life, and new proximity to Sweden. At 27, the choice is as much personal as sporting. The first chance to see if the calculation was right will come in mid-August, when Zug plays its first friendly matches against Kloten and the ZSC Lions.