Trevor van Riemsdyk traded to Carolina after Vegas draft

Heading into the NHL expansion draft, Vegas Golden Knights GM George McPhee made two things clear: They were going to select a bunch of defensemen, and they were going to immediately start shipping many of them to other teams.

On Thursday morning, we have our first post-expansion draft trade: The Carolina Hurricanes have acquired Trevor van Riemsdyk, formerly of the Chicago Blackhawks, according to Frank Seravalli of TSN.

No word yet on compensation for the Knights.

The 25-year-old right-handed defenseman played 158 games with the Blackhawks, including 58 last season when he averaged 18:25 per game. He’s a tall (6-2) defenseman with reach. He played 15 playoff games with the Blackhawks, winning the Stanley Cup in 2015.

He has one year left on his contract at $825,000 before going to restricted free agency in Summer 2018.

He joins a good young blue line in Carolina, led by Justin Faulk, Noah Hanifin and last season’s sensation Jaccob Slavin. The latter two players are among five defensemen on the Hurricanes that, like TVR, are restricted free agents next summer. Competition is a healthy thing.

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.

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