STEVIE Lyle is delighted to have added another wise old head to his ranks after securing the signing of winger Miroslav Zalesak.

The 35-year-old former Slovakia international, who played 12 times for the San Jose Sharks between 2002 and 2004 after breaking into the NHL through the 1998 Entry Draft, has signed on the dotted line as the Swindon Wildcats’ fourth import of the summer.

Zalesak has had three spells with HK 36 Skalica in his native Slovakia and has also played in the Czech Republic and Kazakhstan, where he was the top points-scorer in the Kazakhstan Hockey Championship with Yertis Pavlodar during the 2013-2014 campaign.

Head coach Lyle is expecting the Slovak star to add to the wealth of experience he has built up within his new-look Wildcats roster, alongside captain Jan Kostal, 35, Sami Ryhanen, 35, and Neil Liddiard, 37.

“He’s excited to come to Swindon and he’s another older guy that’s got a lot of experience,” said the Link Centre chief.

“He’s 35 and no disrespect to the younger guys but I just felt that I wanted a few more guys that have been there and done it because they know how to shut a game out.

“He’s definitely a goalscorer. The season before last, he was the top points-scorer in the Kazakshtan league, which is the same standard as the Elite League, if not better.

“He didn’t play as much last year but that’s because his team (Pavlodar) signed an extra five imports and their coach wanted to keep them all happy. He was playing one week and not the next, and it was tough to get into a rhythm.

“I see him playing in the same line as (Tomasz) Malasinski – that’s an Elite League line, nevermind a Premier League line.

“That’s what I’m thinking at the moment but that could obviously change as the season goes on because of injuries and things like that.”

Zalesak won the Kazakhstani league with Pavlodar during his prolific 2013-2014 season, with the Slovakian player racking up 69 points.

He won a Slovakia Extraliga medal in 2010-2011 and was named in that season’s All-Star team after topping the league’s point-scoring charts with 64 following his efforts for Skalica and HC Kosice.