St. Louis Blues breaks San Jose Sharks free agent defenseman Kent Huskins, agrees to a 1-year deal
After two seasons with San Jose Sharks, it did not look like it was going to re-sign its veteran defenseman, Kent Huskins, back to another deal.
St. Louis Blues took advantage of the opportunity and strengthened its defensive end by signing Huskins to a one-year, $1 million contract on Saturday, day-two of the 2011 National Hockey League's (NHL) free agency.
St. Louis Blues' general manager, Doug Armstrong, had been eyeing the opportunity to sign a physical defenseman, and struck gold when Huskins became available.
"Kent brings size and leadership to our defensive corps and we are looking forward to him joining the Blues", Armstrong said after officially signing Huskins to the team.
Huskins had been drafted in the 1998 NHL Entry Draft as the 156th overall pick in round-six by Chicago Blackhawks.
He never played with his original draft team and continued to participate in games with minor league teams in the American Hockey League (AHL), like Norfolk Admirals, San Antonio Rampage, Manitoba Moose and Portland Pirates.
The 32-year-old officially played his first NHL game with Anaheim Ducks during the 2006-2007 season in which he played 33 games, registered three points, all assists.
Huskins played three seasons with Anaheim until moving on to San Jose where he played his first season during 2009-2010. He registered 22 points, 3 goals and 19 assists, in 82 games for a career high.
The Almonte, Ontario, Canadian native, only played 50 regular season games this past year and missed 13 matchups in Sharks' playoff run which ended at the Western Conference Finals' mark against Vancouver Canucks.
It was due to an undisclosed upper-body injury that had the 6-foot-4 defenseman only able to put up 10 points, 2 goals and 8 assists, last season.
Nevertheless, carrying a Stanley Cup under his belt, which he won with Anaheim back in 2007, will enable Huskins to bring about a new defensive change in St. Louis’s line-up and shake up things so that it may be able to go for its first championship run in the franchise's history.
It still is not certain whether St. Louis will immediately play Huskins, but is most likely to make a debut in the opening games.
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