The 28-year-old, left winger – who can also play at center – joins the club from Savannah Ghost Pirates of the ECHL, where last season he scored 11 goals and assisted 16 times in 65 appearances.
Born in St. Louis Park, Minnesota, Naas has been playing professional hockey since 2018 with a number of clubs including; American Hockey League side’s Cleveland Monsters and Texas Stars, as well as Idaho Steelheads, Kalamazoo Wings and Savannah of the ECHL.
Standing at 5-feet-11-inches tall and weighing in at 185lbs, Spencer has also played in the French top tier, Ligue Magnus with Amiens, had a brief spell in Sweden during the COVID-19 pandemic and spent four years in the NCAA with the University of Connecticut Huskies.
Naas made his professional debut with Cleveland following his final collegiate season in 2017-2018, notching four goals and three assists across 12 AHL games, whilst also scoring on his professional debut.
Prior to joining the Ghost Pirates, ECHL affiliate of the Stanley Cup Champions, Vegas Golden Knights, the American was also the top scorer in France during the 2021-2022 campaign with 18 goals for Amiens, whilst also producing the third highest number of points (32) and competing in the Continental Cup.
LEFEBVRE ON NAAS
After adding the experienced forward to his roster, Stars Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre, said: “He is a very good, versatile player who can play a 200-foot game both on the wing and at center, so I like what he can bring to the table.
“Spencer has a lot of professional experience to add to what we are building here and he is a guy who has a lot of offensive capabilities, as well as a good defensive skillset.
“Like I said, he plays that good 200-foot game and he is very versatile up top, but he can also play on the penalty kill and in all other situations.”
LeFebvre continued: “If you look at his numbers coming out of college, he headed to the American league and put up some very good numbers, so he can provide some big offence for us.
“When guys turn pro out of college or junior, they are trying to survive a lot of the time and play some defensive roles, so we are looking to get even more offence out of him.”
Listen to the full interview below!
NAAS ON BECOMING A STAR
Hear what Spencer had to say after joining the Stars and making a return to European hockey in an exclusive interview with Dundee Stars TV.
NAAS’ CAREER
Spencer career began back in 2010 at Blake School, playing in the United States High School league of Minnesota, where in his first two seasons, he racked up 45 goals and 37 assists in 50 regular season matches, before adding 10 more in five playoff games.
His next two seasons in the high school leagues would be spent with Benilde-St. Margaret’s School, where he would become the captain in his senior year and record 125 points across 55 games, putting his total points per game at 2.01 across the four seasons in the high school league.
Naas was also nominated for the Mr. Hockey Award in 2014 and finished tied for 43rd in Minnesota high school history with 217 career points, as well as being 17th all-time with 118 career goals.
The American then committed to join the UConn Huskies in the NCAA and would record 77 points in 143 matches, whilst also joining the leadership team in his final two seasons, as an alternate captain.
During his four years at UConn, Naas also became tied for the second most goals by a rookie in Huskies history and would lead the team in goals during his senior year, which earned him a 2018 Hockey East Honourable Mention Award.
At the end of the 2017-2018 campaign, he then signed an amateur try-out contract in the AHL with Cleveland Monsters and would score an impressive seven points (4G, 3A) in only 12 fixtures.
In the 2018-2019 season, Spencer then signed an AHL contract with Texas Stars, the farm team to the NHL’s Dallas Stars, and would play 10 games with them before being assigned to their ECHL affiliate, Idaho Steelheads and he would go on to record 27 points in 55 games of his rookie season.
Naas would sign on with Idaho again the following year and after totalling 16 points through 46 games, fellow ECHL outfit, Kalamazoo Wings would trade for him and he would play the final seven matches of the season in Michigan.
During the COVID-19 impacted season of 2020-2021, the American found himself plying his trade over in Sweden’s third tier, HockeyEttan with Tranas, where he would ice in 25 matches, tallying six points.
Spencer would then continue his career in Europe by joining Amiens in France, where he also got a taste of Continental Cup action, scoring 32 points in league play, six more in six playoff ties, four points in two French Cup contests and five in three Continental Cup games.
Then last season, the forward joined the newly formed Savannah Ghost Pirates and would be an alternate captain for the Georgia-based club, whilst accumulating 27 points across 65 appearances.
In his 13-year-career so far, Spencer has featured in 505 matches, recorded 224 goals, 182 assists and collected 177 penalty minutes, while also playing in 27 playoff games, where he tallied 24 points (14G, 10A) and 8 penalty minutes.
Naas has crossed paths with a few ex-Stars throughout his career, most recently Spencer Dorowicz in Savannah, but he also played on three of the same teams as Elgin Pearce, in Texas, Idaho and Amiens. It was also in Texas and Idaho, where played alongside one of our new recruits, James Phelan.
Spencer is our 17th signing of the summer and joins Drydn Dow, Lucas Brine, Kris Inglis, Jonathan McBean, Craig Moore, Craig Garrigan, Johnny Walker, Josh Brittain, Chris McKay, Ryan Valentini, Brendan Harms, Carter Johnson, Tommy Parrottino, James Phelan , Kevin Carr and Anthony Rinaldi on the roster for next season.
Naas will wear #8 for the Stars and you can sponsor his equipment for this season right now, click HERE.
To see Spencer’s career stats on Elite Prospects click HERE.
Featured Image: Texas Stars.
Banner Image: MN Boys’ Hockey Hub.
