The Carolina Hurricanes have reeled in another Chicago Blackhawks player _ this time via the Vegas Golden Knights.
The Canes on Thursday obtained defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk from the Golden Knights, who made him one of their 30 selections in the NHL expansion draft.
The Canes sent a second-round pick in the 2017 NHL entry draft to Vegas and received a 2018 seventh-round pick. The Canes held three second-round picks for the draft, sending the 62nd overall pick to Vegas.
"It's definitely been a whirlwind, these last 24 hours," van Riemsdyk said Thursday. "There was a lot of speculation of what will happen. I found out about Vegas, then there was speculation I'd wind up in Carolina.
"I couldn't be happier. It's a great young team headed in the right direction. It should definitely be cool, a different change. It should be a fun group to be a part of."
The Golden Knights took minor-league forward Connor Brickley from Carolina in the expansion draft and also received a fifth-round draft pick in the 2017 NHL draft. There was the feeling there could be more to come between the two teams and it resulted in Thursday's trade for van Riemsdyk.
"As a right-handed defenseman, Trevor fills an immediate need in our lineup," Canes general manager Ron Francis said in a statement. "He has obviously already experienced success in Chicago, and now will be another good, young piece on our blueline."
The Hurricanes recently traded for Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling. A year ago, the Canes acquired forwards Teuvo Teravainen and Bryan Bickell in a deal with Chicago, and the season before traded for Blackhawks forwards Joakim Nordstrom and Kris Versteeg.
Canes defenseman Brett Pesce also was van Riemsdyk's college teammate at New Hampshire. The Canes' Noah Hanifin recently played with van Riemsdyk on the U.S. team in the World Championship.
"That will make the transition a little easier," van Riemsdyk said.
Van Riemsdyk, 25, had five goals and 11 assists in 56 games this season with the Blackhawks and played in the four-game first-round playoff series against Nashville, which swept Chicago. In 158 career games, he has eight goals and 23 assists.
In Chicago, where he averaged 18 minutes of ice time the past two seasons, van Riemsdyk was surrounded by a D-corps that included such veterans as Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook and Brian Campbell. With the Canes, he'll suddenly be one of the oldest defensemen _ Klas Dahlbeck is 18 days older.
"Obviously it's a different dynamic," van Riemsdyk said. "It's a younger group but a really talented group of guys who have played really well."
Van Riemsdyk, the younger brother of forward James van Riemsdyk of the Toronto Maple Leafs, signed a two-year entry level contract with the Blackhawks in March 2014 and made his NHL debut with Chicago on Oct. 9, 2014 against the Dallas Stars.
The Canes traded veteran defenseman Ron Hainsey to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Feb. 23, and Hainsey helped the Pens win a Stanley Cup. The Pens, in return, gave up forward Danny Kristo and a second-round draft pick to Carolina _ the one used Thursday to get van Riemsdyk.
