The Colorado Avalanche have signed defenseman Brent Burns of Barrie, Ontario. The terms of the deal are one-year, and $1 million according to Rogers Sportsnet on Wednesday. At 40 years and 116 days old, Burns is currently the oldest Canadian born player in the National Hockey League.
Burns is joining his fourth NHL franchise. He was with the Minnesota Wild for seven seasons from 2003 to 2011. He then played 11 seasons with the San Jose Sharks, and the last three seasons with the Carolina Hurricanes.
This past season in Carolina, Burns had six goals and 23 assists for 29 points. He was a +7 with 28 penalty minutes, three power-play points, 174 shots on goal, 98 blocked shots, 11 hits, 36 takeaways and 104 giveaways.
Burns has been a six-time NHL All-Star throughout his career. He was honoured while with the Wild in 2010-11, and then five straight seasons with the Sharks from 2015 to 2019.
In 2016-17, Burns won the Norris Trophy, presented to the NHL’s top defenseman. One major reason for the selection that year is because he led the NHL that year in shots on goal with 320. Eight years ago, Burns also had 29 goals and 47 assists for 76 points. He was a +19 with 40 penalty minutes, 25 power-play points, six game-winning goals, one shorthanded point, 142 blocked shots, 69 hits, 52 takeaways, and 153 giveaways. The shorthanded point in 2016-17 came on November 23, 2016 in a 2-1 Sharks win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Burns set up Joel Ward of North York, Ontario at 14:42 of the first period with the game-winning goal, which put the Sharks up 2-0 at the time.