Anaheim Ducks trade for defenseman Eric Brewer

The Anaheim Ducks filled a defensive need after losing Francois Beauchemin for several weeks to a broken finger, announcing that they have acquired defenseman Eric Brewer from the Tampa Bay Lightning in exchange for a third-round selection in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft (the pick was originally acquired from Edmonton in the Viktor Fasth trade on Mar. 4, 2014).

Brewer, 35, is a veteran of 982 NHL games, scoring 74-190=264 points with 774 penalty minutes (PIM).  The Olympic gold medalist (Canada, 2002) captained the St. Louis Blues for three seasons from 2008-11.

This season with Tampa Bay, the 6-4, 216-pound Brewer collected 0-4=4 points with a +5 rating and 18 PIM in 17 games.

Selected by the New York Islanders in the first round (fifth overall) of the 1997 NHL Entry Draft, Brewer has played for the Islanders (1998-00), Edmonton (2000-04), St. Louis (2005-11) and Tampa Bay (2011-14). He was a 2003 NHL All-Star for the Oilers with career highs in goals, assists and points (8-21=29) in 80 games.

Along with a 2002 Olympic gold medal, Brewer also won three gold medals at the World Championship and gold at the World Cup.

In another move, the Anaheim Ducks also recalled defenseman Jesse Blacker from the Norfolk Admirals, Anaheim’s primary development affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).

Blacker, 23 (4/19/91), collected 0-4=4 points with nine penalty minutes (PIM) in 14 games with Norfolk this season. At the time of his recall, Blacker ranked second among team defensemen in points-per-game (.29), tied for second in assists and third in shots on goal (21). Acquired from Toronto with second-round (Marcus Pettersson) and seventh-round (Ondrej Kase) selections in the 2014 NHL Entry Draft in exchange for Peter Holland and Brad Staubitz on Nov. 16, 2013, the 6-1, 192-pound Blacker has yet to make his NHL debut.

By Staff of TheDailySportsHerald.com and news services