SNAPSHOTS: Ottawa Senators GM Pierre Dorion doesn’t waste any time by signing Artem Zub to a two-year deal

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Pierre Dorion kicked off the off-season by taking care of some business.

The Ottawa Senators’ general manager has a lot on his plate this summer, but he got one signing off his plate by inking defenceman Artum Zub to a two-year, $5 million deal.

Signed as a unrestricted from the Kontinental Hockey League last spring, the 25-year-old Zub made an impact defensively for the team and was a solid addition whether he played with Mike Reilly before he was delalt to the Boston Bruins at the deadline or Erik Brannstrom down the stretch.

Speaking at his end of season news conference, Dorion talked about the impact Zub made. There were 20 teams trying to sign him to an entry-level deal last spring but the Senators felt they could offer him the best opportunity. He finished with three goals and 14 points in the 47 games he suited up under coach D.J. Smith.

“I thought he brought stability to our back end,” said Dorion Friday. “He’s someone that we weren’t exactly sure what we had. We all scouted him and saw him last year and I thought we did a good job because there a lot of teams in on him. We knew what we thought but we didn’t know what we had until we got out of camp.

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“Once he got in the lineup, I just thought he brought some stability. He’s a very good defensive defenceman. I think he’s going to be on the Oympic team with Russia. He’s very good penalty killer, he gaps up extremely well and he can play against the other team’s top lines so he was a good addition for us.”

The club has also been holding talks with the agent for defenceman Victor Mete and both sides are hoping to reach a conclusion on that front soon. Picked up on waivers from the Montreal Canadiens at the end of the season, he did a solid job here and is only 22-years-old so he fits into the mould of what the club is trying to build.

bgarrioch@postmedia.com

Twitter: @sungarrioch