We have another trade at the NHL draft. The Carolina Hurricanes have traded backup goaltender Anton Khudobin to the Anaheim Ducks for defenceman James Wisniewski. The move saves the Ducks significant cap space.
Moving James Wisniewski to Carolina for Khudobin frees up more money and cap room for Ducks. Wiz owed $5M in '15-16 and $3M in '16-17.
— Eric Stephens (@icemancometh) June 27, 2015
Khudobin, 29 years, old, played in 34 games for the Hurricanes last season with 32 starts. He was 8-17-6 with a 2.72 goals against average, and .900 save percentage. He previously played for the Boston Bruins. In 91 career games, 85 starts, he is 41-36-8 with a 2.40 goals against average and .919 save percentage. He was made available due to Carolina’s acquisition of Eddie Lack from Vancouver earlier in the day. In Anaheim he will be expected to back up Frederick Andersson, giving John Gibson time to develop at the AHL level next season.
Wisniewski, 31 years old, was a trade deadline acquisition for the Ducks, from the Columbus Blue Jackets last year. He was expected to solidify the Ducks blueline but was outplayed by the younger defenders and found himself a healthy scratch on a deep team in the playoffs. Overall he played 69 games last season, scoring 8 goals and 26 assists for 34 points. In his career, spent with Anaheim, Chicago, Montreal, and Columbus he has played in 551 games with 53 goals and 221 assists for 274 points. He should add some leadership to a young Hurricanes team and his big shot will be a weapon on the Carolina Powerplay.
Stay tuned to Last Word on Sports for all the coverage of the NHL draft, and check out our NHL Draft Headquarters for scouting reports on the picks.
PHILADELPHIA, PA – NOVEMBER 14: James Wisniewski #21 of the Columbus Blue Jackets celebrates his goal with teammates Boone Jenner #38 and Tim Erixon #20 in the second period against the Philadelphia Flyers on November 14, 2014 at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)
