Stars Sign Ivan Vishnevskiy

[Thrillhouse]

FRISCO, Tex. -- Dallas Stars General Manager Doug Armstrong announced today that the club has signed defenseman Ivan Vishnevskiy to a three-year entry-level contract. Vishnevskiy was the club's first-round pick (No. 27 overall) in the 2006 Entry Draft and has spent the last two seasons with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

"Ivan has exhibited excellent offensive abilities from the blue line the last two seasons in the Quebec junior league and we look forward to his continued development in our organization," said Armstrong.

Vishnevskiy, 19, skated in 60 games for Rouyn-Noranda last season and tallied 14 goals and 37 assists for 51 points with 90 penalty minutes. He led all Huskies defensemen in scoring, while his 37 assists were tied for third on the club. The 5-11, 176-pound defenseman added 13 points (5 goals, 8 assists) and eight penalty minutes in 16 QMJHL playoff games. He was honored on March 12 as the TELUS Defensive Player of the Week in the Quebec league, after posting four assists and a +5 rating in three games.

The native of Barnaul, Russia, led all QMJHL rookie defensemen in scoring in 2005-06 with 48 points (13 goals, 35 assists) and was named to the league's Rookie All-Star Team. He was a member of Team Russia at the 2006 ADT Canada-Russia Challenge and participated in the Canadian Hockey League's 2006 Top Prospects Game. Vishnevskiy collected 71 points (39 goals, 32 assists) in 50 games with Togliatti of the Russian junior league in 2004-05.