Fife Flyers: why Ryan Foss left, and who is new import forward?

Evan MacKinnon is in line for a debut on the road against Manchester Storm on Saturday and then home to Glasgow Clan on Sunday. He arrived in Kirkcaldy to play having been signed just before the transfer deadline.

The 24-year joins the club after another difficult week which saw defenceman Noah Delmas put on Injury Reserve (IR) for 90 days -a knee injury has ended his campaign - and forward Ryan Foss quit with immediate effect to return to North America. The latter’s departure raised concerns among the fan base about morale as the team continues to battle through tough series of defeats, but interim coach Johnny Curran gave an insight into why the move came about.

“Foss explained that this was his last year playing pro-hockey and he wanted to finish in North America playing in a play-off series,” he said. “It’s important fans hear that information as these are the type of decisions players deal with, and they don’t make them easily or without thinking about the parties involved.”

Foss has since signed for ECHL outfit Idaho Steelheads.

New signing MacKinnon, meanwhile, is a native of Nova Scotia having been born in Sackville.

He played Major Junior in the Quebec Maritime Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) from the 2016-17 season until joining Miramichi Timberwolves of the MJAHL late in the 2020-21 season. He went on to play with four teams in the QMJHL scoring 35 goals with 63 assists in 246 games. In 13 games with the Timberwolves, MacKinnon had two goals and 11 assists. He maintained that point per game pace in the Canadian Tire Cup Eastlink North Playoff Round-Robin with one goal and three assists in four games. He then committed to Dalhousie University situated in Halifax and in his first year received an Academic All-Canadians award, bestowed upon student-athletes who maintain a GPA of at least 3.50 over the academic year while competing in a varsity sport. Evan joins Flyers having signed his first professional contract. He graduated earlier this month and during his four seasons with Tigers in the USports league he played 91 games, scoring 18 goals with 27 assists.

Curran said, ‘Evan is a skilled, shifty forward who skates very well. He’ll be used in all situations which will help spread the minutes throughout our line up. We are very excited to have signed Evan and we look forward to seeing him join an old teammate in Keiran Craig.’