Blue Jackets trade Antoine Vermette to Coyotes for Curtis McElhinney, picks
The Columbus Blue Jackets have traded a forward – but it’s not Rick Nash.
Center Antoine Vermette has been traded to the Phoenix Coyotes for goalie Curtis McElhinney a 2012 second round pick and a 2013 conditional fifth round pick.
Vermette is in the second of a five-year contract that has a cap hit of $3.75 million per season. The 29-year-old has eight goals and 27 points in 60 games this season after posting 19 goals and 47 points in 2010-11. He was acquired by Columbus in 2009 for Pascal Leclaire and a second-rounder.
"We are extremely pleased to acquire Antoine," Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said in a release. "He is a smart, skilled, two-way center who will be a great addition to our lineup."
McElhinney, 28, has only two appearances this season and has a career 3.10 GAA and .899 SP in 69 games with Phoenix, Ottawa, Anaheim and Calgary.
