Avalanche Sign Stastny and Klee

[Thrillhouse]

DENVER – The Colorado Avalanche announced today that the club has signed its second-choice in the 2005 NHL Draft, forward Paul Stastny, and agreed to terms with defenseman Ken Klee.

Stastny, 20, a standout at the University of Denver for two seasons, signed a multi-year contract with the Avalanche and will begin his professional career with the same franchise his hall-of-fame father, Peter Stastny, began with when he signed with the Quebec Nordiques as a free-agent in 1980.

Stastny completed his sophomore season at the University of Denver in 2005-06, capturing the Western Collegiate Hockey Association scoring title with 44 points (15g, 29a) in 28 conference games. He was named first team All-WCHA and a third-team All-American by U.S. College Hockey Online. The Quebec City native became the first DU Pioneer to win the WCHA scoring title since Dave Shields in 1989-90. Stastny and Hobey Baker Award winner Matt Carle shared the overall team scoring lead with 53 points (19g, 34a), fourth best in the WCHA. Stastny’s 1.36 points-per-game average ranked 10th in the nation.

“Paul brings a great deal of speed, skill and potential to the organization,” said Avalanche Executive Vice President & General Manager Francois Giguere. “Obviously his college accomplishments speak for themselves and we look forward to watching him continue to develop.”

Stastny has tallied 98 points on 36 goals and 62 assists in just two seasons at the University of Denver (81 games). He was named WCHA Rookie of the Year as a freshman in 2004-05 after helping DU to its second consecutive national championship. He recorded two goals and an assist in Denver’s 4-1 victory over North Dakota in the 2005 NCAA title game and was named to the Frozen Four All-Tournament Team

Ken Klee, a 6-1, 205-pound defenseman will enter his 12th NHL season. Klee, 35, a native of Indianapolis, Ind., currently residing in Morrison, Colo. joins the Avalanche after having appeared in 710 NHL regular season contests and 51 career playoff games with Washington, Toronto and New Jersey. His 20 minutes of ice-time per game was third most among Toronto defensemen last season. Klee’s professional resume includes appearances with the U.S. World Championship squads in 1992 and 1996 as well as with the 2005 U.S. World Cup team.

“Ken gives us another strong, experienced defenseman to solidify our blueline corps,” said Giguere. “He has demonstrated year after year that he can be counted on to take quality minutes and play a solid defensive game and we’ll be counting on him to do that for us this season.”

[Isles4life]

Still not a good offseason for Colorado. Last names don't mean anything necessarily. Yan sure isn't impressive from what I've seen. Klee is a solid pick-up, but they need some more help to be good this year.

[Humpzilla]

I guess Ken Klee is going to be the 'Bob Boughner' of the 2006-07 season. I just hope he won't turn into another Pierre Turgeon....

[NJDevils17]

i don't like the ken klee move is good. he wasn't too good with the devils last year. if its a 1 year deal, then i guess it would be an ok move because it never hurts to have depth.

[KOd]

I don't see the need for another veteran defenseman. They already had 7.

[forsberg21]

The last thing we need is another washed up veteran taking up cap room. Bad move.

[canuck2]

Colorado headed in the wrong direction after a long run. This will be a terrible team.

[KOd]

If the Avs want to carry 8 defensemen, wouldn't it make more sense for the 8th D-man to be someone who can fill another role, like, say, John Erskine (he hasn't been signed yet, has he)?

[bustoff]

Good to see another kid from St.Louis make it big. Stastny should be a pretty good player in a few years.