Last week, the Isles announced that veteran winger Steve Bernier would be attending training camp on a PTO.
Turns out he didn’t even need it.
On Thursday, as the Isles were set to begin camp, the club went ahead and signed Bernier to a one-year, one-way deal worth $750,000.
The move comes on the heels of a busy last 24 hours -- last night, the club agreed to a three-year extension with RFA forward Brock Nelson and, today, GM Garth Snow traded speedy forward Michael Grabner to Toronto for a handful of players, including Taylor Beck.
But back to the Bernier signing for a second.
Though he’s never lived up to the hype -- he was the 16th overall pick in 2003, and the Blues once signed him to an offer sheet -- Bernier is coming off a pretty good year; he matched career highs in goals (16) and points (32) in just 67 games with the Devils last season, averaging just under 13 minutes a night.
At 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds, he should provide good size and a net-front presence for the Isles.