Last season, Garrigan featured in all 54 Elite League games and 12 Challenge Cup contests providing one goal and five assists, whilst playing a pivotal role in the team’s penalty kill unit.
The 27-year-old now has 345 Elite League appearances to his name and also featured 13 times for Nottingham Panthers before collecting a winner’s medal in the 2020/2021 Elite Series.
Garrigan has been a big part of the core roster here in Dundee since he joined his hometown team in the summer of 2018 and every night, he puts his body on the line for the Stars and his relentless effort is always visible on the ice.
LEFEBVRE ON GARRIGAN
Once Garrigan’s extension was confirmed, Stars Director of Hockey Operations and Head Coach, Marc LeFebvre, said: “He was Coach’s Player of the Year last season for a reason, he embodies what being a Dundee Stars is.
“He may not always give us the biggest offensive production but he still works hard every night and earns his opportunities.
“We always want Craig to score and get rewarded for his hard work in the defensive side of the game as he is always blocking shots, he is strong penalty killer and there has been a few games this past season where we were up by a few goals and he was still blocking shots until the very end.
“He has a team-first mentality and everyone in the room loves him, he is a great character and Craig gives us his full effort every night and we all want to see him be rewarded with a bit more offence, but he knows what his role is and I am looking forward to working with him again.”
LeFebvre continued: “Our penalty kill was second in the league this year and Craig was a big reason for that.
“He has found his role and in previous years he had some bad luck with injuries that stopped him from getting into any sort of rhythm but this year he found his rhythm with being in that defensive position and as a penalty killer – he is always one of the first guys over the boards, whenever we take a penalty.”
CRAIG ON CONTINUING WITH THE STARS
After signing his new deal to stay with the Stars, the winger who has been capped for Scotland and Great Britain at youth level, said: “I am buzzing to be back for my seventh season and there is a reason I keep coming back every year, I love being here.
“It helps being from Dundee and playing in front of family and friends, also it is great to play in front of a great set of fans who support us every night.
“I love everything about this club and I am happy to be back.”
Discussing his hopes for the season ahead, Craig continued: “Last season, we were quite inconsistent and a bit of a streaky team.
“When we were playing well, we would string together a bunch of wins and then when we were not playing so well, we would end up on a losing streak, so next season we want to be a more consistent team.
“Every team wants to be consistent but that was out biggest issue last season, so we want to improve on that but not only just that, we do not want to just make the playoffs but reach the Final Four in Nottingham and see where we can go from there.”
This will be Garrigan’s second year playing under LeFebvre and he shared what his relationship with his coach has been like and the part that played in his decision to extend his stay with the club.
He said: “This will be my second season playing for Marc and I have nothing but good things to say, since he has been here, we have had a good relationship and he lets me play my game.
“I know my role and he is always positive about things, so I play as hard as I can and do whatever I can to help the team win every night, so I was happy to comeback and Marc being the coach was a big part of the reason why I came back.”
In his career so far, Craig has featured in 601 matches, recorded 141 goals, 283 assists and collected 163 penalty minutes, while also playing in seven playoff games and scoring three points (2G, 1A).
Craig is our fourth signing of this summer and joins Drydn Dow, Jonathan McBean, Jarrett Fiske, Jackson Desouza and Craig Moore on next season’s roster.
Garrigan will again wear #15 for the Stars.
To see Craig’s career stats on Elite Prospects click HERE.
