Admirals re-sign Kyle Marino, add Ben Strinden for future seasons

Milwaukee did not wait for its playoff run to end before stocking up for the next one, locking in Kyle Marino on a two-year AHL contract for 2026-27 and bringing Ben Strinden in on an amateur tryout that can turn into a longer stay. The pair of moves gave the Admirals immediate insurance for a Calder Cup push and a clearer read on the bottom six and middle of the lineup beyond this spring.

Marino’s deal was the more established piece. The 30-year-old right wing from Niagara Falls, Ontario, is already a familiar heavy-footprint player for Milwaukee, with 65 games this season, 6 goals, 9 assists and 15 points. More telling is the edge he has brought: 162 penalty minutes. At 6-foot-2 and 229 pounds, Marino has been the kind of abrasive presence playoff teams tend to prize when games tighten and the front of the net gets crowded. He also arrived with a championship résumé, having won the Calder Cup with Chicago in 2022, and his AHL path has run through Chicago and Henderson.

The timing mattered. Milwaukee had already clinched a berth in the 2026 Calder Cup Playoffs with a 2-1 win over Iowa on April 12, securing its sixth straight postseason appearance and its 20th since joining the AHL in 2001. By re-signing Marino now, the Admirals kept a physical, experienced depth winger from drifting into the summer market and made sure a hard-to-play-against body stays in the system for 2026-27.

Strinden’s arrival addressed a different need. The Fargo, North Dakota, native signed an ATO for the rest of this season, which lets him report and skate with Milwaukee right away, before his two-year AHL contract begins next season. In practical terms, that gives the Admirals a chance to evaluate a center with pro upside during the playoff build-up while also securing his rights for the long term.

Strinden, 23, just finished a breakout senior season at North Dakota, where he posted 15 goals and 20 assists for 35 points in 38 games after previous highs of 8 goals and 16 points in 2024-25. Listed at 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, and majoring in finance, he offers Milwaukee a younger option down the middle, the kind of player who can help with depth scoring, defensive-zone responsibility and the grind of a compressed AHL schedule. North Dakota’s hockey program described him as a high-character teammate after a difficult personal year, a trait that tends to travel well when a team is trying to build both for April and for the fall.