PORTLAND, ME – October 5, 2021 – Forward Alex Kile is back with the Mariners, the team announced on Tuesday. Kile signs with Maine for his third season, after spending 2020-21 with the Florida Everblades. Kile was the first ever Mariners player signed, originally joining the roster in the summer of 2018.
A 27-year-old forward from Troy, MI, Kile has played professional hockey since the end of the 2016-17 season, after captaining the University of Michigan program. He spent his first two years with the Rochester Americans of the American Hockey League, and their ECHL affiliate, the Cincinnati Cyclones. The 2017-18 was Kile’s first extended look in the pros, when he skated in 46 regular season games and five playoff contests for Cincinnati. He posted 28 points (15 goals, 13 assists) in those 46 regular season games.
In June of 2018, the Mariners announced Kile as their first signing in franchise history. He scored a goal in the team’s inaugural game against the Adirondack Thunder on October 13th, 2018 and later scored the game-winner in the first franchise victory on October 21st, 2018 against the Newfoundland Growlers. Kile skated in 22 games with the Mariners and scored 13 goals with seven assists. He was loaned to three AHL teams during the season: the Utica Comets, Hartford Wolf Pack, and Laval Rocket. His call up to Laval came right at the start of 2019, and Kile would remain there through the end of the season, appearing in 33 games for the Rocket, with five goals and two assists.
Kile was back in Maine for the 2019-20 season and spent the entire year with the Mariners. In 57 games, he led the team with 51 points, 35 of which were assists – also a team-leading mark. Kile had a flair for the dramatic as well, scoring three overtime-winning goals, all coming on home ice.
After the Mariners opted out of the 2020-21 season, Kile was able to sign with the Florida Everblades. He enjoyed another productive season, putting up an equal 51 point mark, in 69 games. He finished second on the team in scoring, putting home 25 goals and adding 26 assists. Kile also appeared in five postseason games for the Everblades and had four points.
Through two seasons of the Mariners franchise, Kile ranks third in career points (71) and assists (42). He’s also fourth in goals (29) and tied for second in game-winning goals. (7)