Ben Birnell

The Utica Comets have added a veteran presence to their blue line.

Jaime Sifers, who is known as reliable defenseman, has signed a two-year AHL deal, the Comets announced Thursday.

The 34-year-old Sifers joins Utica after spending the last three seasons in the Columbus Blue Jackets' organization. In 217 AHL games with Springfield and Lake Erie/Cleveland, Sifers totaled 14 goals and 61 points.

During those three seasons, Sifers, who is 5-foot-11 and 200 pounds, also served as an alternate captain and was part of 2016 Calder Cup champion team.

The Stanford, Connecticut, native has accumulated 35 goals and 149 points in 544 AHL games with with Cleveland, Springfield, Chicago, Houston and Toronto. Sifers' career also includes 37 NHL games his last appearance was during the 2009-10 season as well as three seasons in Germany.

Sifers is the second player to join the Comets on an AHL deal since free agency opened July 1. However, the parent Vancouver Canucks have a very crowded group on defense after adding to their depth with free-agent signings like Michael Del Zotto and Patrick Wiercioch this month and re-signing prospects Evan McEneny and Andrey Pedan.

With Sifers, the Comets have four players signed to AHL deals that would count toward the league's veteran rule during this season. A team can dress five veterans (more than 321 professional regular-season games) and one veteran exempt (between 261 and 320 pro games) in a contest.

Sifers joins forwards Carter Bancks (428), Wacey Hamilton (336) and Darren Archibald (347) as veterans. Depending on decisions made by the Canucks, the Comets could be coming up against the limit (or be over) this season.

Canucks re-sign Chaput

Vancouver has re-signed forward Michael Chaput to a one-year, one-way contract Thursday.

The 25-year-old Chaput played a career-best 68 NHL games last season with the Canucks and finished with four goals and nine points. The one-way contract means Chaput will earn $687,500 whether he plays in the NHL or AHL next season. He would need to clear waivers to play in Utica, according to CapFriendly.

The 6-foot-2, 204-pound forward started last season in Utica before being called up to the Canucks, when they were dealing with a string of injuries. Chaput, who was expected to be an offensive leader for Utica had two goals and 11 assists in 10 games with the Comets. In total, he's played in 246 AHL games and 126 NHL games.

Heading into this season, Vancouver also has a large forward group and will have some decisions to make on who is sent to the the Comets when training camp begins.

Shields signs overseas

David Shields has signed with a new team.

The 26-year-old defenseman, who provided depth for the Comets over the past two seasons, signed to play for Austria-based EC Villacher SV on Thursday. The team plays in the country's top league.

Shields, who is from Western New York, played in 80 regular-season for the Comets after first joining the team in December 2015. The stay-at-home defenseman had three goals and 17 assists during his time with Utica.

It will be Shields' first stint overseas after mostly playing in the AHL (284 games) since 2011.

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Defenseman Sifers joins Utica Comets; Canucks re-sign Chaput - Utica Observer Dispatch