The 27-year-old center, who can also play right wing, joins the club from Allen Americans of the ECHL where he finished out the season after also icing with South Carolina Stingrays and Sheffield Steelers.
Born in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Kameron began the season in Sheffield last year and played six times for the Yorkshire club, scoring one goal before moving back to North America to spend the majority of the season with South Carolina.
In 41 games with the Stingrays, the Canadian scored eight goals and added 13 assists then played out the final seven games in Allen with the Americans, scoring four points in the regular season and two more in the playoffs.
Kielly, who stands at 6-foot and 1-inch tall, has also played two games in the American Hockey League for Belleville Senators, the NHL’s Ottawa Senators affiliate team and over 153 games in the ECHL.
Before turning pro in 2020, Kameron also spent three years playing in USports with the University of Prince Edward Island and also five seasons in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League, where he iced in over 300 games.
LEFEBVRE ON KIELLY
After adding the final skater to his roster, Stars Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre, said: “There is a lot of offence there that is yet to be tapped into at the pro level and you look at Kameron’s numbers in USports and juniors and you can see that there are definitely offensive capabilities there.
“That is what we were looking for when we signed him and he got a taste of the league last year with a very good Sheffield side and then he went back to the coast and had a pretty decent rest of the year there, but we think there is a guy there who can put up some offensive numbers if given the right opportunity in our league.”
He continued: “He got his feet wet a little bit in Sheffield last year and he knows what to expect coming over and I have been tracking Kameron for a few years now, back from when I was coaching in France and the opportunity came to up to bring him to Dundee.
“Guys that have come out of USports and had success there have gone on to have success in our league before and you look at players like Valentini and also Troy Lajeunesse in Fife last year.
“They came into the league after having great success in USports in the years prior and there is no reason why Kameron cannot do the same if given the opportunity with our club.”
KIELLY ON RETURNING TO THE ELITE LEAGUE
Once his return to the UK was confirmed, Kameron said: “I just think this is a great opportunity hockey-wise and I have heard nothing but great things about Dundee as an organisation and the way they treat the players.
“I am excited to come in and take on a big role, hopefully we as a team can have success because the club is building off a strong year last season, so it just felt like a perfect fit in terms of what they can offer me and what I can contribute.”
Describing his previous experience of the Elite League, Kameron added: “I loved my time in Sheffield, they are a first-class organisation as well and obviously they had a really strong year, but my time there taught me the layout of the league and the calibre of players as this is a strong league.
“It is nice being able to fly overseas and have some comfort with knowing what the league is like and what the travel is like and all that, so it feels like it will be a smoother transition this time around.”
Sharing how his discussions to join the club went, he said: “I liked the opportunity Marc spoke of and it really appealed to me, so I am looking forward to getting over there.
“I have had a good summer in the gym and I am looking forward to translating that on to the ice and showing Marc that he made the right decision and the Stars fans what I can do.”
With an understanding of the Elite League, Kielly discussed how he wants his season to go, commenting: “You definitely set your own goals in your mind and they are usually simple things like being consistent and bring what your coach wants you to every night.
“Games can be spread out so it is about factoring them in and getting your rest, taking care of your body and doing what the coach expects of you every night and the rest will take care of itself.
“You will have your personal goals but it is more about helping to reach your team goals.”
Finally, Kameron shared a message for the Stars fans after joining up for the new campaign and he said: “I just cannot wait to get over to Dundee, me and my girlfriend are really excited and we have heard nothing but good things about the club, the fans and their passion and how they are good people.
“So, we are excited to be welcomed into their arms and hopefully we can give them a lot of things to be happy about.”
KIELLY’S CAREER
Kameron’s career started back in 2009 as he played in the Prince Edward Island AAA leagues with Sherwood Falcons Bantam AAA side, where scoring 56 points in 38 games to lead his side in scoring and improved his tally to a team-leading 84 points from 29 games in the following season and helped his side to a PEIBAA Championship
The Canadian also made his first step up to with Charlottetown Islanders U18 AAA team in 2010-2011 season as he made three appearances and also played for Team Prince Edward Island at the CWG Tournament which sees Canadian provinces best young talent compete against each other and Kielly scored eight points (5G, 3A) in six games.
In the 2011-2012 campaign, he spent the full year with the Islanders U18’s and recorded 48 points through 41 games and also represented Canada Atlantic’s U17 side at the World Junior Hockey Challenge Tournament, aged 15 and he would go on to captain the same side a year later.
Kielly then stepped up into the Quebec Major League and joined Gatineau Olympiques who drafted him #18th Overall in the first round of the 2012 QMJHL Entry Draft and he played 67 games in his rookie season, before scoring four points for Canada Atlantic as he led their U17 side that summer.
Ahead of the 2013-2014 season, he was traded to his hometown team Charlotte Islanders and he would hit 32 points in in 70 games in his debut season and followed it with 53 points from 77 games in the next campaign, as he was given an ‘A’ on his chest.
Kielly would spend the next two years with Charlotte and scored 49 points in 60 games before having his career best year in his final season of major junior hockey, as he 92 points across 78 games, taking his QMJHL total to 202 points (77G, 125A) in 306 appearances.
In the summer of 2017, he committed to joining the University of Prince Edward Island Panthers and would spend the next three seasons icing in USports and he would accumulate 136 points (50G, 86A) from 100 games.
During his collegiate career, he was named to the USports (AUS) All-Rookie Team in the 2017-2018 campaign and then onto the USports (AUS) Second All-Star Team in both the 2018-2019 and 2019-2020 seasons.
Kameron then turned professional in 2020 as he signed his first pro contract with the AHL’s Iowa Wild straight out of university and he joined the Wild on a one-year, two-way contract, which saw him play 32 games for their ECHL affiliate, Allen Americans before being signed by fellow ECHL outfit, Indy Fuel.
The forward finished the year out in Indy before being claimed by Rapid City Rush on waivers, although he would never make appearance for the Rush as he made his AHL return with Belville Senators.
The Sens gave Kielly a professional try-out contract and he would ice in two matches before they signed him to a standard-player contract and sent him out on loan to their ECHL partner team, Atlanta Gladiators.
Kameron would play a total of 60 games for the Gladiators across the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 seasons, scoring 46 points (17G, 29A), whilst in October 2022, he was invited to the Tucson Roadrunners AHL training camp, where played alongside Arizona Coyotes draft pick and former Sheffield Steeler, Liam Kirk.
In November of 2022, Toledo Walleye acquired the forward in a trade and he would go on to make eight appearances for Walleye, scoring one goal before an injury curtailed his season but his European debut would follow in the summer of 2023 as he joined Sheffield for this past Elite League season.
Kielly would play in six games for the Steelers, scoring once for the Yorkshire club as they began their grand-slam, treble-winning campaign and he left the Steelers in November to return to North America as he signed with South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL and bagged 21 points from 41 games.
Kameron would end the season back where he made his professional debut as Allen Americans claimed him off waiver and he spent the final seven games with them, adding six more points to take his career ECHL record to 93 points (37G, 56A) from 154 games across four seasons.
In his 15-year-career so far, Kameron has featured in 665 matches, recorded 254 goals, 342 assists and collected 549 penalty minutes, while also playing in 76 playoff games, where he tallied 68 points (31G, 37A) and 101 penalty minutes.
Kameron is our 19th signing of the summer and joins Drydn Dow, Ben O’Connor, Jonathan McBean, Xavier Pouliot, Craig Garrigan, Kris Inglis, Kyle Pouncy, Brett Gravelle, Craig Moore, Keanu Yamamoto, Brendan Harms, Jake Elmer, Alex Tonge, Cole MacDonald, Domenic Alberga, Zach Tsekos, Jarrett Fiske and Brogan O’Brien on the roster for next season.
Kielly has also shared a dressing room with some former Stars during his career so far, including Francis Marrotte, Dan Bakala, Elijah Vilio and Cole Fraser, who he played with on four different teams.
Kielly will wear #10 for the Stars and you can sponsor his equipment for this season right now, click HERE.
To see Kameron’s career stats on Elite Prospects click HERE.
Banner image: Dean Wooley/Sheffield Steelers.
