Blackhawks pull off a blockbuster
Vermette heading to Chicago
The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired centre Antoine Vermette from the Arizona Coyotes for a first-round pick and defensive prospect Klas Dahlbeck, a source told The Canadian Press.
Vermette, an unrestricted free agent this off-season, is 32 years old and has 13 goals and 22 assists in 62 games this season.
He has a cap hit of $3.75 million US, which the Blackhawks can absorb because star winger Patrick Kane is on long-term injured reserve for the remainder of the year with a clavicle injury.
The first-round pick obtained by the Coyotes is in this year’s draft. Dahlbeck is a 23-year-old defenceman.
Chicago traded its second-round pick Friday to the Philadelphia Flyers for 39-year-old defenceman Kimmo Timonen.
Earlier Saturday, the Florida Panthers acquired forward Dany Heatley and a third-round pick this year from the Anaheim Ducks for forward Tomas Fleischmann.
The deal came two days after the Panthers got Jaromir Jagr from New Jersey for a pair of draft picks.
Fleischmann had 27 goals for Florida three seasons ago and 27 goals in 180 games since. The 30-year-old Czech veteran had seven goals and 14 assists for the Panthers this season.
Ducks general manager Bob Murray acquired his second forward in five days after picking up Jiri Sekac from Montreal. Fleischmann is making $4.5 million and will be a free agent this summer, but Heatley’s $1-million salary will offset some of Anaheim’s costs.
Fleischmann has a strong connection with Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau, his coach for four seasons with the Washington Capitals. They won an AHL championship together with the Hershey Bears and Fleischmann had 23 goals and 51 points for the Caps in 2009-10.
“Fleischmann brings skill and smarts to our hockey team,” Murray said. “He is a left-handed shot, can play on the power play or the penalty kill and gives us added depth on the left side. His history with Bruce should help ease his transition to our club.”
Although the Ducks have the NHL’s second-best points total and lead the Pacific Division by 12 points, Murray is trying to bolster Anaheim’s offence, which led the NHL in scoring last season but is 10th this year.
Fleischmann also could help fill the hole created by Matt Beleskey’s absence. The Ducks’ second-leading goal-scorer has missed six straight games with a nupper-body injury and the impending free agent could be traded if he can’t reach a new deal.
The 34-year-old Heatley was scoreless in six games with Anaheim, which signed him as a free agent last summer. He began the season with a groin injury and has been in the AHL since December after struggling to keep up with the NHL pace.
Heatley has scored just two goals — both in the same game, on Jan. 2 — in 25 games for Norfolk. The former rookie of the year has a pair of 50-goal seasons and has 791 points in 869 career regular-season games, but his production has declined precipitously in the past half-decade.
Also Saturday, the Washington Capitals obtained defenceman Tim Gleason from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for defenceman Jack Hillen and a draft pick.