Cincinnati, Ohio - The Cincinnati Cyclones announced that the team has re-signed defenseman Matt Cairns to a contract for the 2023-24 season.
Since the start of the 2021-22 season, no defenseman has played more games for the Cyclones than Cairns, who now enters his third season with the team. Including the playoffs, the 25-year-old has skated in 128 games for Cincinnati, scoring 23 points (3g-20a). Over the course of two regular seasons, Cairns has posted a +38 rating and has earned two call-ups to the American Hockey League, most recently last season with Milwaukee, where the Mississauga, Ontario native appeared in seven games for the Admirals.
Cairns was selected by the Edmonton Oilers in the third round of the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. From there, he went on to play college hockey for Cornell University and the University of Minnesota-Duluth. In 2021, Cairns signed an AHL contract with the Rochester Americans, where he spent the bulk of his season with Cincinnati. He signed his first ECHL contract with the Cyclones last sseason, before playing in 45 games and posting six points while accruing 50 penalty minutes.