It looks like the Carolina Hurricanes have made their second trade of the day.
They’ve sent veteran forward Kris Versteeg to the Los Angeles Kings for prospect Valentin Zykov and a conditional fifth-round pick.
Versteeg played in Sunday’s loss to the St. Louis Blues, but he was taken out of the game for an unknown reason.
After the game, Hurricanes coach Bill Peters mentioned that some players were held out because of injury and some were held out for other reasons.
With Marian Gaborik on the shelf, Versteeg gives the Kings another top-nine forward.
The 29-year-old’s numbers aren’t great this season, but he does bring more championship experience to Los Angeles’ locker room.
Versteeg won two Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks (2010, 2015).
Despite being part of long playoff runs, Versteeg’s production in the playoffs has dropped off considerably in the last two years. He has two goals and five points in his last 27 playoff games.
The 29-year-old is scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.
As for Carolina, it looks like they received a pretty good return for a player they probably weren’t going to re-sign in the off-season.
Zykov was Los Angeles’ second-round pick, 37th overall, in 2013.
The 20-year-old forward has some offensive upside, but he’s struggled to produce points in his first AHL season. Zykov has seven goals and 14 points with the Ontario Reign in 2015-16.
