"The Blues were looking for a veteran defenseman, not necessarily one with a Stanley Cup on his résumé, but they found one in Kent Huskins on the second day of free agency Saturday.

Huskins, 32, who won a Cup with Anaheim in 2007, signed a one-year, $1 million contract with the Blues.

After being traded from Anaheim to San Jose in 2009, Huskins has been in the postseason the past two years with the Sharks, playing in the Western Conference finals last season against Vancouver. In his career, nearly one-seventh of all the games he has played have come in the playoffs (47 of 321).

"Obviously, he's coming from a winning program," Blues general manager Doug Armstrong said. "The last two teams he's played on, he's played deep into the playoffs, won a Stanley Cup. He knows what it's going to take to get a team to the next level."

Originally drafted by Chicago in the sixth round (156th overall) of the 1998 NHL draft, Huskins has 11 career goals, 49 assists and a plus-minus rating of plus 40.

San Jose recently traded for defenseman Brent Burns, and on Friday the team signed defenseman Jim Vandermeer, ending any chances of Huskins re-signing with the Sharks.

The Blues were looking for a player of Huskins' mold to add on defense. In addition to his experience, he's got size (6-foot-4, 205 pounds) and he's a lefthanded shot.

The club appears set on its right side with Alex Pietrangelo, Roman Polak and Kevin Shattenkirk. Huskins will join a group on the left side that includes Barret Jackman, Carlo Colaiacovo and Nikita Nikitin, who will be entering his second NHL season on a one-way contract.

"I think it will be good competition for all four of those guys on the left side," Armstrong said. "You need seven or eight competent NHL (defenseman) to get through a season and now we feel very comfortable that we have eight" including prospect Ian Cole."