The 28-year-old blueliner joins the club after spending the past season icing in Germany for DEL2 side, Bietigheim Steelers and through 57 games, he contributed 42 points (7G, 35A).
Born in Wetaskiwin, Alberta, Cole will play his third season in Europe this year after previously playing in Poland and Romania, before moving to Germany last term.
MacDonald, who stands at 6-foot and 1-inch tall, also played two full seasons in the ECHL, firstly with Florida Everblades and then later on he returned to join Wichita Thunder, where he led the league in scoring by a defenseman in the 2022-2023 regular season.
Cole also spent four years at St. Francis Xavier University and featured in over 110 USports games, whilst helping lead the X-Men to the playoffs in all four seasons and playing in the Canadian University National Championships in back-to-back campaigns.
LEFEBVRE ON MACDONALD
After completing his defensive unit with the addition of MacDonald, Stars Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre, said: “We are looking forward to having Cole and his wife join us here in Dundee this year.
“Cole started his career in USports and was almost a point per game defenseman in that league, which is a league with high-quality hockey there and when he turned pro I think it took him a couple of seasons to find his feet and his grove but then you look at the last two seasons, he has been a very reliable, offensive, two-way defenseman.
“He is going to help the powerplay, help us get the puck out of our zone faster and we want to play a puck possession and high tempo game and he adds to our ability to do that.
“Last year I thought we were a bit too slow moving the puck up the ice from our defence to our forwards, so our transition was not as quick as I wanted it to be and the puck possession game was not there.
“So, we had to change somethings with our line-up this year and getting guys like Cole and Ben on the back end allows us to do a lot of different things in terms of how we want to do things in the offensive zone and how we want to transition the puck from the defensive zone, to the neutral zone and into the offensive zone.
“He just gives us a whole different look on the back end, obviously Drydn is our leader and with those three guys who are real puck moving defensemen, it really compliments the others who are more stay-at-home types with Kyle, Xavier and Kris.
“We have a real different spectrum of defenders but the main thing for us is being able to bring the puck through our zone a lot cleaner and get the puck from the defence to the forwards a lot quicker.”
MACDONALD ON MOVING TO DUNDEE
Once he finalised his switch to Tayside, Cole said: “My wife and I are excited to be heading to Dundee in the fall and cannot wait to get started.
“The two of us have never been to the UK, so we are looking forward to experiencing a new part of the world and calling Dundee home for the season.
“Marc has been building a solid base for this team and I am excited to be a part of the squad next season because I have heard nothing but good things about the city and the hockey in Dundee.
“I am thrilled to be hitting the ice and will do my best to help the team in having a successful season and playoffs.”
Finally, Cole shared a message for the Stars fans and he said: “I have heard a lot of good things about the people and fans of Dundee, so I cannot wait to get on the ice and hopefully bring home a championship.”
MACDONALD’S CAREER
Cole’s career started back in 2008, with Camrose Kodiaks U15 AAA side in the Alberta Elite Hockey League and in his first season, he posted 11 points in 32 games and totalled 50 penalty minutes.
Ahead of the 2009-2010 season, the Canadian switched to join the Leduc Oil Kings program and starting in their U15 side, he picked up 16 points in 33 games and reduced his time in the box to 20 minutes.
Over the next two years, MacDonald progressed to the U16 and then U18 AAA teams at Leduc, bagging 45 points in 38 appearances with the U16’s and 16 in 41 matches with the U18’s.
The Western Hockey League would be Cole’s next stop as he joined Everett Silvertips and began a four-year stint in one of Canada’s top junior leagues, but also an eight-year streak of making the playoffs.
After recording 10 points through 65 games in his rookie season, the blueliner improved to 17 in 67 the following year before then hitting 12 goals and providing 32 assists across 83 matches in the 2014-2015 campaign.
In his final season with the Silvertips, MacDonald was named as an alternate captain and provided another 12 goals and 28 assists for the team in 80 fixtures, before then committing to playing for St Francis Xavier University in the summer of 2016 and he continued to make the playoffs for another four years with the X-Men.
After icing in 40 games and posting 23 points (7G, 16A) in his rookie season, Cole was named to the USports (AUS) All-Rookie Team and the then to the USports (AUS) Second All-Star Team in the 2017-2018 campaign after recording a further 26 points through 36 matches.
The Alberta-native also made his debut in the University Cup that year and added three more points in as many games in their quest for a National Championship and the following year, St Franis Xavier would have another opportunity to lift the trophy but again they would fall short, with MacDonald contributing a goal and an assist in three contests.
Cole then hit 26 points again in only 29 regular season games during the 2018-2019 campaign and in his final year in USports, he amassed 31 points (8G, 23A) in 32 appearances.
At the end of the 2018-2019 season, he turned professional with Florida Everblades in the ECHL, icing twice for the Estero-based club and during the COVID-19 impacted season of 2020-2021, he spent the full year with the Everblades.
The defender would record seven assists in 43 matches, take only 10 penalty minutes and held a plus nine rating, whilst helping the Everblades to win the ECHL Brabham Cup as regular season champions.
The summer of 2021 saw MacDonald make the switch across the pond and his European debut came with Polish top-flight side, Unia Oswiecim, where he went on to ice in 13 games and score six points.
A mid-season move to Romina allowed the Canadian to net a further 18 points that campaign as he dressed in 15 Romanian league games, 12 Erste Liga regular season matches and four Erste Liga playoff contests.
Cole then returned to North America and signed with Wichita Thunder for the 2022-2023 season, having his best season to date as he put up 54 points in 68 appearances.
That year, he led the lead entire ECHL in points by a defenseman (54) and in assists by a defenseman (43), as well as winning the Wichita Thunder Defenseman of the Year Award.
Then last season, MacDonald returned to Europe and iced 57 times for Bietigheim Steelers in the DEL2 and recorded 42 points in that time, whilst again leading the league in assists by a defenseman with 32.
In his 16-year-career so far, Cole has featured in 730 matches, recorded 108 goals, 294 assists and collected 420 penalty minutes, while also playing in 66 playoff games, where he tallied 35 points (14G, 21A) and 81 penalty minutes.
Cole is our 14th 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 and Alex Tonge on the roster for next season.
MacDonald has also shared a dressing room with a number of former Stars players throughout his career, including: Connor Cox, Jagger Dirk, Chris McKay and Xavier Pouliot.
Cole will wear #26 for the Stars and you can sponsor his equipment for this season right now, click HERE.
To see Cole’s career stats on Elite Prospects click HERE.
Banner image: Everett Silvertips.
