ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — The Washington Capitals have acquired center Eric Belanger (buh-LAHN’-zhay) from the Minnesota Wild for a second-round draft pick.
The deal was done Wednesday, before the NHL’s deadline.
The 32-year-old Belanger will be a free agent this summer. He has 13 goals and 22 assists in 35 games, ranking seventh in the NHL with wins on 57.6 percent of his faceoffs.
The league-leading Capitals also acquired veteran forward Scott Walker on Wednesday from the Carolina Hurricanes for a seventh-round draft pick.
In 13th place in the Western Conference with 21 games left, the Wild appear more focused on the future. They have already traded defenseman Kim Johnsson and signed another free-agent-to-be, Marek Zidlicky, to a contract extension.
