Brodie Reid is no stranger to putting together a big year.

But the Kansas City Mavericks star has never quite done what he’s on pace to do this season in the ECHL.

Currently the league’s leading scorer heading into Saturday night’s home game against the Allen Americans at Cable Dahmer Arena, the 31-year-old has 10 goals and 14 assists for a whopping 24 points in just 18 games. While he’s put up some big years in his past, particularly during his three-team, five-year run in Europe in the International Central Europe Hockey League (aka the ICE League), he’s had the kind of season that he’s on pace to so far.

Playing with Giorgio Estephan and Rob Bordson on one of the top lines in the league, Reid has flourished early this season, his first in North America since the 2014-15 campaign.

“I think from the start, I was given the confidence just to go out and play my game,” Reid told FloHockey. 

“Coaches expect offense from me and those guys. I’ve been around for a while, so I just tried to bring my experience in and just kind of roll with it, so it’s been going well so far . . . I’m not completely surprised (by my start) by any means, but I was expecting a pretty good adjustment with the ice (size difference) and everything coming over from Europe. I think if you look at my first eight games, I wasn’t really at the pace I’m at now, so there was that adjustment period for sure, but I’m confident in my abilities. So, I wouldn’t say I’m surprised, but I’m happy with how things are going.”

In his 10th pro season, Reid is one of several players on the Mavericks roster who brings a legitimate veteran presence to the lineup. The last five of those seasons came in Europe, where he split time with Bolzano HC, Dornbirn EC and finally VSV EC in the Austrian-based ICE League and averaged just under a point-per-game pace during his stay.

“I started in Italy, the Austrian League, and it was my first time overseas,” Reid said. “I’d never been over there, and it was awesome. They have a soccer mentality there, you’d show up to a game, and there’s 5,000 Europeans chanting and jumping up and down all game, so I loved it. My first son was born there, and I’ve got nothing but great things to say. I was skeptical at first of going over, and I think lots of guys are, but it was definitely an experience worth doing.”

It’s also an experience Reid never expected to have to give up. With COVID-19 protocols having ravaged many leagues in Europe as well as opportunities for imports within those leagues, he was forced to pursue opportunities back in North America for the 2020-21 season.

“To be honest, I never thought I would be back here,” he said. “Obviously, with COVID this year, lots of things factored into coming back here and staying here . . . I never really expected to come back, but you just roll with the punches. This is a strange year, but I’m having lots of fun here, and hopefully in the future, I think my plan is to go back over there. I wasn’t expecting this, but it’s been fun, and I’ve been enjoying it.”

The opportunity arose when Reid says Bordson “called out of the blue one day” to see if Reid was interested in joining him on the Mavericks. He was. The conversation lasted an hour, he reached out to the Kansas City coaching staff, and a deal was in place shortly thereafter.

It’s worked out well for both sides, but particularly Reid, who has opened up a bevy of doors with his play this season. A veteran of 198 games at the American Hockey League level — he played for the Worcester Sharks, St. John’s IceCaps, Adirondack Flames and Rochester Americans between the 2011-12 and 2014-15 seasons — he would very much so be an intriguing option for a team at that level should a need arise.

But, with a young family at home in Kansas City, the situation would need to be perfect for him to consider giving it another shot.

“(I’ve thought about it) a little bit,” he said. “For me, my goal is I want to go back to Europe next year. Obviously, if I get a call and the AHL rolls around, I’d look at it, but I’ve got two young kids and during COVID, it’s been making sure they’re comfortable and they’re safe and they’re living a good life too here. I would think about it for sure, but it’s not something that’s on my list of things to do.”

Thus, the focus remains with the Mavericks, who are currently 10th out of the 13 active ECHL teams with a .447 points percentage with a 7-9-2-1 record to start the year, including an 0-2-1-0 stretch in their last three games heading into Friday’s showdown with Allen.

Reid remains confident that his team can get things turned back around and more consistently headed in the right direction in the standings.

“We’ve kind of had an up and down year,” he said. “We go through these phases where we’re winning three of four, and then we’re losing three of four. I think we’ve had a couple new guys recently come in, and we’re trying to look for an identity to work with consistently. There’s nights where it comes together and we play great and we’re winning games, and then other nights, it’s not so much there and things aren’t working. But, I think we’ve got to find our groove as a team . . . it’s just a matter of finding that consistency and staying more on an even keel throughout the rest of the season.”

Mike Ashmore has 17 years of experience covering professional and college sports. You can follow him on all social media channels at @mashmore98.