Ottawa Senators sign Francis Lessard: CONFIRMED

UPDATE: The signing was made official with an announcement from the Ottawa Senators today. Lessard, along with D David Hale, have both been signed to one-year, two-way contracts with the Senators organization.

According to Sylvain St-Laurent (for those who speak French), Ottawa has signed tough guy Francis Lessard. Francis looks to replace Jeremy Yablonski, who signed with the New York Islanders. Lessard has spent the last two years with the San Antonio Rampage (Phoenix Coyotes AHL affiliate), where he spent 613 minutes in the sin bin (Yabo spent 571 in all three years he spent in Binghamton).

Francis won't be the only tough guy in Binghamton, as Tim Spencer (who was re-signed last month) spent 141 minutes in the box in just 35 games. Don't expect opponents to take any cheap hits on any Binghamton Senators this year and get away with it.

In other news, the Binghamton Senators have signed forward Yannick Tifu to a one year, AHL contract. Tifu played in the ECHL for the Victoria Salmon Kings and the Elmira Jackals, as well as in the AHL with the Albany River Rats and the Binghamton Senators. He scored 60 points overall with all four teams.

Want to win an autographed and framed Yablonski, Hennessy or Holt poster? The Binghamton Senators are having contest on Facebook to see if they can reach 1,000 fans by opening night in October. The winner will be picked randomly of the 1,000 fans, here's the page.