The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed defenseman Niclas Andersen to a one-year entry-level contract, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Jim Rutherford.

Andersen, 27, has spent his entire career playing in Europe, including this past season when he served as the team captain for Brynas of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL).

The 6-foot-1, 218-pound blueliner established offensive career highs this year with Brynas, scoring five goals and adding 17 assists for 22 points in 54 contests.

Andersen was originally drafted by the Los Angeles Kings in the fourth round (114th overall) of the 2006 NHL Draft, but never signed with the club.

In 2014, the Grums, Sweden native helped his country capture a bronze medal at the World Championship, tallying two assists in eight games.

A lefthanded-shooting defenseman, Andersen has eight-plus years of professional experience between the SHL and Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League (KHL).

Andersen has played a total of six seasons with Brynas, split between two separate stints with the club. During the ’11-12 campaign, he and Brynas won the SHL playoff championship. Andersen also skated for the Severstal Cherepovets of the KHL for two years from 2012-14.

Andersen’s professional career began as a 17 year old with Leksand of the SHL during the ’05-06 campaign when he saw action in eight regular season and three playoff games.

In total, Andersen has played in 303 career SHL regular-season games with Brynas and Leksand, totaling 13 goals, 42 assists and 55 points. Anderson made 101 KHL regular-season appearances, finishing with 14 points (4G-10A).

Anderson has represented Sweden internationally on several occasions, capturing a silver medal at the 2008 World Junior Championship and a bronze medal at the 2005 Under-18 World Junior Championship.