Tom Preissing Thomas Joseph Preissing ( born December 3 , 1978 ) is an American professional ice hockey Defenseman currently playing for EHC Biel of the Swiss National League A . Preissing has played in 326 National Hockey League games with the San Jose Sharks , Ottawa Senators , Los Angeles Kings and the Colorado Avalanche . Playing career . Amateur . Preissing played four years as a forward on the varsity team at Rosemount High School before moving on to play two seasons with the Green Bay Gamblers of the USHL . It was with the Gamblers that then coach Mark Osiecki converted Tom to a defenceman , paving the way for his future hockey successes . Preissing played for Colorado College of the WCHA and was a top 10 finalist for the Hobey Baker Award , he also captained the Tigers in his senior year . He earned NCAA - West First All - American honors and holds the WCHA record for most goals by a defenseman in a season with 23 in 2002 – 03 . Professional . Preissing was signed as an undrafted free agent by the San Jose Sharks on April 4 , 2003 . After a strong training camp with the Sharks , Preissing was a surprise inclusion on the opening night roster for the 2003 – 04 season . Tom played the full season with the Sharks where he had two goals and seventeen assists in 69 games . He was praised for making the step directly from college to the NHL without stopping in the AHL and was named San Jose ' s rookie of the year in 2004 . In the 2005 – 06 season , Preissing broke out , scoring 43 points in seventy - four games to have the second - highest - scoring season by a defenseman in Sharks history behind only Sandis Ozolinsh . He also carried a + 17 plus - minus rating , which ranked 1st among Sharks defensemen . On July 9 , 2006 , Preissing and Josh Hennessy were traded by the Sharks to the Chicago Blackhawks for Mark Bell . The Hawks immediately traded the two , along with Michal Barinka and a second round draft pick in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft to the Ottawa Senators for Martin Havlat and Bryan Smolinski . Tom then spent the 2006 – 07 season with Ottawa , recording 38 points in 80 games and posting the third - best plus - minus rating ( + 40 ) of any NHL player . He helped the Senators reach the Stanley Cup final , in which they lost to the Anaheim Ducks in five games . On July 2 , 2007 , Preissing signed a four - year , $ 11 million contract as an unrestricted free agent with the Los Angeles Kings . In the 2007 – 08 season , his first with the Kings , Preissing suffered in production , scoring only 24 points in 77 games , and his plus - minus slipped to - 6 . Preissing was benched for four games into the early stages of the 2008 – 09 season . After stepping up his play Preissing was then hampered by illness and upon recovery was assigned to the Kings affiliate , the Manchester Monarchs of the AHL on March 4 , 2009 , for the rest of the season . On July 3 , 2009 , Preissing was traded by the Kings , along with Kyle Quincey and a fifth round draft pick in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft , to the Colorado Avalanche for Ryan Smyth . Preissing missed training camp and the start of the 2009 – 10 season having a scope on his right knee . After a conditioning stint with Colorado ' s AHL affiliate , the Lake Erie Monsters , Tom made his Avalanche debut in a 8 - 2 loss to the Vancouver Canucks on November 14 , 2009 . On November 29 , 2009 , after playing in four games with the Avs , Preissing was placed on waivers and re - assigned back to the Monsters . Despite leading the Monsters defense with 31 points in 49 games , his considerably large contract meant he was placed on waivers for the purpose of a buy out of his final year from the Avalanche on June 30 , 2010 . Without NHL interest , Preissing returned to Europe for the first time since 2005 , signing a one - year contract with Kärpät of the Finnish SM - liiga on September 16 , 2010 . Under the agreement , Tom first joined Kazakh team , Barys Astana of the Russian KHL , to start the 2010 – 11 season on a two month loan through to November in order to attain game conditioning . On September 17 , Preissing made a successful debut with Astana scoring a goal in a 6 - 5 overtime loss to Salavat Yulaev Ufa . However , just two days later in his second game in a 4 - 1 victory against Metallurg Novokuznetsk , Preissing ' s tenure in the KHL was cut short when he suffered a serious knee injury . Due to return to Kärpät in November , but with the prospects of being unable to play from the injury , Preissing came to a mutual agreement to terminate his contract on October 11 , 2010 . On July 11 , 2011 , Preissing signed a one - year contract with Swiss team EHC Biel for the 2011 – 12 season .