The Avalanche announced today that the team has signed forward Milan Hejduk to a one-year contract through the 2012-13 season. The upcoming campaign will mark Hejduk's 14th NHL season, all of which has been spent with the Avalanche. He enters the year just nine games shy of becoming the first player in Avalanche history to appear in 1,000 games. The only other franchise player to reach 1,000 contests was Joe Sakic, who appeared in 508 with Quebec and 870 with Colorado (1,378 total). "Over the years, Milan has been an instrumental part of our organization's success," said Avalanche GM/Executive Vice President Greg Sherman. "He has represented this franchise with class and will continue to complement the young nucleus of players we have been building this team around."