Veteran defenseman Dennis Seidenberg has been skating with the Islanders all season long as an extra and he has been rewarded for his patience as the team has signed him to a one-year contract, TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie reports (Twitter link). David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period adds (via Twitter) that the deal is worth a pro-rated $700K.
Seidenberg was not signed early enough in the day to go through waivers as several others did so it appears he’ll remain with the big club instead of seeing some game action with their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport.
The 37-year-old played just 28 games last season for the Isles but still logged nearly 18 minutes per game while bringing some toughness and shot blocking to the lineup. Now, he’ll serve as injury insurance for the Metropolitan Division leaders for the stretch run.
Seidenberg has played in 859 career NHL games between the Flyers, Coyotes, Hurricanes, Panthers, Bruins, and Islanders. While his offensive output isn’t overly significant (44 goals and 207 assists in total), he has averaged over two hits and two blocked shots per game over the last 11 seasons and has carved out a pretty good career for himself as a stay-at-home player. That career will now extend for at least a couple more months.
Nice