OTTAWA - The Ottawa Senators announced today the club has signed defenceman Andre Benoit to a one-year, two-way contract.

Benoit, 28, returns to the Senators organization after having spent the 2011-12 season with Moscow Spartak of the Kontinental Hockey League. In 53 KHL games, he scored five goals and added 12 assists for 17 points along with 34 penalty minutes.

The 5-11, 186-pound native of St. Albert, Ont., made his National Hockey League debut in 2010-11, recording one assist and six penalty minutes in eight games with Ottawa. He was also part of the Binghamton Senators’ Calder Cup-winning team, scoring 11 goals and 55 points in 73 regular-season games before adding five goals and 18 points in 23 American Hockey League playoff contests. For his efforts in Binghamton, he was named to the AHL’s second all-star team following the 2010-11 season.

Benoit spent the 2009-10 season with Montreal Canadiens’ AHL affiliate, the Hamilton Bulldogs. Prior to that, he spent two seasons in Europe, playing with Sodertalje SK of the Swedish Elite League in 2008-09 and Tappara Tampere of the Finnish League in 2007-08.

After signing as a free agent with Montreal on Jan. 9, 2006, Benoit played two seasons in Hamilton, where he was a member of the Bulldogs’ Calder Cup champion team in 2007. Benoit played five seasons with the Ontario Hockey League’s Kitchener Rangers from 2000-01 to 2004-05.

In 285 career AHL games, Benoit has recorded 34 goals and added 114 assists for 148 points, while recording 217 penalty minutes. He has added 45 points, including eight goals, in 64 career playoff games.

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