Kiser, 27, led all ECHL defensemen with a +28 plus/minus rating last season and paced the Stingrays with a team-high 174 penalty minutes, which ranked ninth in the league. The Southgate, MI, native sits sixth in team history with 292 regular season games played, and third with 912 penalty minutes.Since joining South Carolina for the 2004-05 campaign, the 6-foot-1, 225-pound blueliner also has compiled 19 goals and 73 assists for 92 points, as well as 11 points (3g, 8a) and 116 penalty minutes in 46 playoff contests. Kiser began his professional career in 2003-04, skating in 63 games for the Dayton Bombers. His resume also includes 11 contests in the American Hockey League, totaling 48 penalty minutes between stops in Syracuse, Portland, and Albany.

Prior to turning pro Kiser played four years with the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers, amassing 41 points (13g, 28a) and 473 penalty minutes in 137 junior games. Originally, he was a 5^th round choice (160^th overall) of the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2000 NHL Entry Draft.