Dallas signs McDonald

NORTH BAY, Ont. — The Dallas Stars have signed right winger Kyle McDonald of the North Bay Battalion to a three-year entry-level contract that starts in 2023-24, the National Hockey League club announced Friday.

Overager McDonald, signed as a free agent, had 28 goals and 17 assists for 45 points in 38 Ontario Hockey League games this season before a Friday night visit to the Oshawa Generals. He missed 18 games with back spasms, returning to play Jan. 5.

A six-foot-four, 217-pound Ottawa native who turned 21 on Feb. 5, McDonald was acquired by North Bay from the Windsor Spitfires in a trade Jan. 5, 2022, with Grayson Ladd in exchange for Josh Currie and three OHL Priority Selection picks.

McDonald, chosen by Windsor in the second round of the 2018 Priority Selection, 25th overall, from the Ottawa Senators midgets, scored 18 goals and earned 10 assists for 28 points in as many games with the Battalion last season. In three-plus OHL seasons, he has 80 goals and 54 assists for 134 points in 182 games. In 13 playoff games last spring, he had six goals and three assists for nine points.

He attended camp with the NHL’s Ottawa Senators last September, playing in a prospects tournament at Buffalo, before seeing action in two October exhibition games with the American Hockey League’s Belleville Senators.

“Kyle has worked very hard for this opportunity,” said Battalion general manager Adam Dennis. “He has addressed a lot of his deficiencies through hard work and dedication and serves as a great example for any player not selected in the NHL Draft.

“He’s been a great influence in our dressing room since he got here, and we look forward to a strong finish to his junior career before we follow his progress in the pros.”