Jul 17, 2007, 21:10 GMT
Denver, CO - The Colorado Avalanche continued to bolster their roster on Tuesday, re-signing forward Mark Rycroft and defensemen Jeff Jillson and Dale Purinton to one-year contracts.
Rycroft is a four-year NHL veteran out of the University of Denver. He posted six goals and 12 points in 66 games in his first year with the Avs last season. The 27-year-old winger has tallied 21 times and added 25 assists in 226 career games with St. Louis and Colorado.
'Mark is a hard-working player who provides energy to our roster,' said team executive vice president and general manager Francois Giguere.
Jillson was a former first-round draft pick of the San Jose Sharks back in 1999 from the University of Michigan. He spent last season playing in Germany and has not appeared in an NHL game since 2005-2006 with the Buffalo Sabres. In four NHL seasons with San Jose, Boston and Buffalo, Jillson collected nine goals, 32 assists and 96 penalty minutes in 140 games.
Purinton made his reputation as an enforcer with the New York Rangers from 2001-2004. The 30-year-old racked up 578 penalty minutes in 181 games with the Blueshirts, but has spent the last two seasons with the Rangers' AHL club in Hartford and the year prior to that with Victoria of the ECHL.
'Dale adds a measure of size and toughness to our organization's depth chart and Jeff brings offensive ability from the blue line,' added Avs assistant GM Greg Sherman. 'They each have a solid balance of experience both at the American Hockey League and NHL levels.'
The Avalanche, who missed the playoffs last season for the first time since 1993-94, when they were located in Quebec, begin the 2007-2008 regular season on October 3 at the Pepsi Center against Dallas.
© 2007 The Sports Network
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