St. Paul, MN -- (Sports Network) - Former NHL defenseman Sean Hill signed a one- year contract to play for Biel of the EHC Swiss hockey league on Thursday.

Hill played in 35 games for the Minnesota Wild last season, scoring twice with seven assists. He also appeared in five playoff contests without registering a point.

The 38-year-old, Duluth, Minnesota native missed the first 19 games of the 2007-08 season after becoming the first NHL player to be suspended for the use of a performance-enhancing substance. He maintains that he never knowingly took a performance enhancer and appealed the suspension, but the 20-game suspension was upheld by the league and he served one game in the Eastern Conference quarterfinals when he was a member of the New York Islanders.

A 16-year NHL veteran, Hill has also laced up the skates for Montreal, Anaheim, Ottawa, Carolina, St. Louis, Florida and the Islanders.

In 876 career regular season games, Hill has 62 goals and 236 assists with 1,008 penalty minutes.