Ducks acquire Carl Hagelin for Emerson Etem; potential Beleskey replacement?

SUNRISE, Fla. – The Anaheim Ducks have swapped the No. 41 pick in the 2015 Draft and Emerson Etem for … wait for it … Carl Hagelin of the New York Rangers.

And this seems like a smart, smart move for general manager Bob Murray, who cleared some salary space earlier in the day by trading James Wisniewski.

Etem is 23 years old, a former first-round pick, and never seemed to realize his potential with the Ducks with 31 points in 112 games.

He had flashes of brilliance, like his Game 4 goal against the Winnipeg Jets in that first-round series. But ultimately the consistency was never there.

Hagelin is a more proven commodity. At 26 years old, he’s a speedster – which addresses one of the Ducks issues – he had 17 goals last year, and he’s played top line minutes. The Ducks will likely be unable to re-sign forward Matt Beleskey, so Hagelin addresses this issue of replacing the versatile forward. They’re both left wings, so you can put Hagelin right on that slot Beleskey occupied – likely for way less money than Beleskey will make as an unrestricted free agent.

Hagelin is a restricted free agent coming off a $2.25 million salary cap hit, and who knows what type of contract he’ll want – long term or a bridge UFA deal. Regardless solid move by the Ducks of taking a player who had run his course with the organization and getting something in return.

That team just has a lot of chips it can use – another being a goaltender perhaps with Anaheim now having Anton Khudobin, Frederik Andersen and John Gibson under contract for next year, though word is the Ducks may keep all three before the day is done.

Anaheim also dealt Kyle Palmieri for two draft picks in the first day of the draft. One of those picks was used in this trade to score Hagelin.

As for the Rangers, Etem is a big body with some speed who was a point-per-game player in the American Hockey League. Maybe Alain Vigneault can get something out of him that Bruce Boudreau didn’t?

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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper

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