PORTLAND, Maine –The Maine Mariners have re-signed forward Mathew Santos to a contract for the 2022-23 season.
Santos, a 27-year-old forward from Etobicoke, Ontario, signed with the Mariners last summer after having played on and off over the prior four seasons. He did not play at all in 2017-18, and after two years at Ryerson University (USports), missed the 2020-21 season as well due to the pandemic.
Last season was his breakout campaign, as he posted a team-leading 59 points and 26 goals in 53 games. Both marks also represented Mariners single-season records. While he was a consistent point producer all season, Santos took his game to another level in the second half of 2021-22. Forty-six of his 59 points and 20 of his 26 goals came between Dec. 29 and the end of the season.
During the 2021-22 season, Santos was loaned to the American Hockey League twice, seeing stints with the Springfield Thunderbirds and the Laval Rocket. He made his ECHL in the 2016-17 season, playing 49 games for the Toledo Walleye. Prior to that, he played junior hockey in the Ontario Hockey League for the North Bay Battalion.