Veteran defenseaman Coyle joins Mallards

MOLINE, Ill. – The Quad City Mallards have signed defenseman Jace Coyle for the 2016-17 season.

The Mallards are the ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Minnesota Wild and the American Hockey League's Iowa Wild.

Coyle, 26, returns to North America after two seasons in Europe. Last season the Cranbrook, British Columbia native scored 34 points (10g-24a) in 64 games while helping the Sheffield Steelers to Britain’s Elite Ice Hockey League title.

Coyle, who spent the 2014-15 season in Denmark with the Aalborg Pirates, last played in the ECHL in 2013-14 when he produced 31 points (8g-23a) in 63 games with the Fort Wayne Komets. That campaign also saw Coyle play three American Hockey League games for the Lake Erie Monsters.

Coyle, who split his first two professional seasons between the Idaho Steelheads and the AHL’s Texas Stars, has played 61 career AHL games. Over his five seasons in pro hockey, Coyle has scored 102 points (19g-93a) in 282 games.

Coyle turned pro after four years in the Western Hockey League, the final three of which he spent with the Medicine Hat Tigers. Coyle broke into the WHL with the Spokane Chiefs, who in 2007-08 won both Western League title and the Memorial Cup Canadian major junior championship in his lone season with the club.