Ottawa Senators' general manager Bryan Murray announced yesterday that the team has signed defenseman Matt Carkner to a two-year contract extension.

Carkner, 28, is a feisty defenseman who is ranked eighth in the league in blocked shots with 19 this season. After two seasons in the AHL with the Binghamton Senators, Carkner made the team out of training camp as the seventh defenseman. But an injury to Filip Kuba has allowed him to participate in each of the Senators’ seven regular-season games.

The 6′4”, 230 lb, defenseman was originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the second round (58th overall) of the 1999 entry draft. He was signed as a free agent by Ottawa in 2007.