Kanzig inks deal with Steelheads

Boise, Idaho – Idaho Steelheads Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Neil Graham announced that the team has agreed to terms with defenseman Keegan Kanzig on a contract for the 2018-19 season.

The Steelheads are the ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Dallas Stars and the American Hockey League's Texas Stars.

Kanzig, 23, will hit the ice in October for his third full professional season. A third-round selection of the Calgary Flames in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, Kanzig spent the 2017-18 season in the ECHL with the Florida Everblades, appearing in 63 games and notching five assists. Kanzig posted a +22 rating for the Everblades, tied for ninth-best among ECHL defensemen, and 106 penalty minutes.

A native of Althabasca, Alberta, Kanzig also appeared in nine playoff games for the Eastern Conference champion Everblades, collecting 20 penalty minutes in postseason play. He has appeared in 103 regular-season ECHL games over the past two seasons with Florida and the Adirondack Thunder, totaling 10 points (1g-9a), 171 penalty minutes and a +32 rating.

Kanzig has also appeared in nine American Hockey League games, appearing with the Stockton Heat late in 2015-16 and during the 2016-17 campaign and totaling two assists and 21 penalty minutes at the AHL level.

He played junior hockey in the Western Hockey League, appearing in 319 games with the Victoria Royals and Calgary Hitmen from 2011-16. Kanzig totaled 59 points (19g-40a) in the WHL, along with 565 penalty minutes and a +44 rating. He earned 166 penalty minutes in 2014-15 to lead the league.