ZURICH – On the first day of free agency in the National Hockey League, Swiss champion ZSC Lions Zurich signed Jean-Guy Trudel to a two-year contract.

Trudel played in Switzerland from 2003-2007 for HC Ambri-Piotta where he was top scorer of the team twice and among the best scorers of the Swiss league  each year. He had 118 goals and 144 assists in 198 NLA games for Ambri-Piotta.

The 32-year-old signed with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues in 2007-2008, but played for the AHL-affiliate Peoria Rivermen where he led in scoring with 67 points (23+44) in 78 games. He is the third Peoria player to join a Swiss team this season, following Micki DuPont (Zug) and Martin Kariya (Langnau).

The ZSC Lions won the Swiss title last year for the first time in seven years and qualified for the Champions Hockey League where they play Slavia Prague (Czech Republic) and Linkopings HC (Sweden).