Rangers GM Jeff Gorton announced today that the team has acquired forward Chris Brown from the Capitals in exchange for Ryan Bourque. 

Brown, 25, has skated in 20 games with the Hershey Bears of the AHL this season, registering three goals and six assists for nine points, along with 20 penalty minutes. 

He has skated in 23 career NHL games over four different seasons with the Coyotes and Washington, registering two goals and one assist for three points, along with a plus-one rating and 21 penalty minutes. 

Brown was selected by the Coyotes in the second round, 36th overall, of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft.

Bourque was selected by the Rangers in the third round, 80th overall, of the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, and he made his NHL debut with the Blueshirts on Apr. 9, 2015.

The Kings have acquired forward Kris Versteeg from the  Hurricanes in exchange for forward Valentin Zykov and a conditional fifth-round pick in 2016, Kings President/GM Dean Lombardi announced today.
 
Versteeg, 29, has played in 63 games with the Hurricanes this year, recording 33 points and 36 penalty minutes.
 
The native of Lethbridge, AB has played for the Hurricanes, Blackhawks, Panthers, Flyers and Maple Leafs during his nine-year NHL career, including winning two Stanley Cups (2010 and 2015 with Chicago).
 
Zykov, 20, appeared in 43 games this season with the Ontario Reign (AHL), posting 14 points, a plus-7 rating and 20 penalty minutes. He was drafted by the Kings in the second-round (37th overall) in the 2013 NHL Draft.

The Maple Leafs announced today that the team has acquired Washington’s 2nd-round selection in the 2016 Entry Draft, defenceman Connor Carrick and forward Brooks Laich in exchange for forward Daniel Winnik and Anaheim’s 5th-round selection from the 2016 Entry Draft.

Carrick has split his season between Washington and their AHL affiliate, the Hershey Bears. The 21-year-old has appeared in three games with Washington and 47 games for the Bears. He’s registered 10 goals and 16 assists for 26 points with Hershey and leads all Bears’ defencemen in scoring while being named an AHL All-Star. Carrick was originally selected by Washington in the fifth round (137th overall) of the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.

Laich has played in 60 games with Washington this season, registering one goal and six assists. The 32-year-old has played in 743 career NHL games, recording 133 goals and 191 assists for 324 points between the Ottawa Senators and Washington. He was originally selected by Ottawa in the sixth round (193rd overall) of the 2001 NHL Entry Draft. 

Rangers GM Jeff Gorton announced today that the team has acquired forward Eric Staal from the Hurricanes in exchange for Aleksi Saarela, a second round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft, and a second round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.

Staal, 31, has skated in 909 career NHL games over parts of 12 seasons, all with Carolina, registering 322 goals and 453 assists for 775 points, along with 678 penalty minutes. Staal is one of only two NHL players who registered at least 30 assists and 50 points in 10 consecutive seasons from 2005-06 – 2014-15 (along with Martin St. Louis), and he is one of seven NHL players who have tallied 50 or more points in at least 10 different seasons since he entered the NHL in 2003-04.

Pittsburgh acquired Justin Schultz from Edmonton for a 2016 third-round pick, the Penguins announced Saturday. The Oilers will be retaining 50 percent of Schultz's salary, bringing his cap charge in Pittsburgh to $1.95 million.

The Panthers added some scoring punch to their offense Saturday, acquiring winger Jiri Hudler from the Flames and Teddy Purcell rom the Oilers in separate trades.

The Flames received a second-round draft pick this June plus a fourth-round pick in 2018 for Hudler. The Oilers got a third-round pick for Purcell.

The Sharks strengthened their goaltending Saturday after acquiring James Reimer from the Maple Leafs.

Reimer, who can become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, was having a solid season for the rebuilding Leafs with a 2.19 goals-against average and .918 save percentage.

He will be an upgrade over the struggling Alex Stralock, who was sent to the Maple Leafs along with forward Ben Smith and a fourth-round pick in 2018.

The Sharks also got forward Jeremy Morin from Toronto.

The Kings have acquired defenseman Rob Scuderi from the Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Christian Ehrhoff, Kings President/General Manager Dean Lombardi announced today. To make room on the 23-man roster, defenseman Kevin Gravel has been assigned to Ontario.
 
Scuderi, 37, has played in 17 games with the Blackhawks this year, going scoreless.
 
He has played for the Blackhawks, Penguins and the Kings during his 12-year NHL career, including winning two Stanley Cups (2012 – Los Angeles, 2009 – Pittsburgh). In 762 career regular-season games he has 104 points (8-96=104), a plus-16 rating and 196 penalty minutes.

Ehrhoff, 23, appeared in 40 games this season with the Kings, posting 10 points and 32 penalty minutes. 
  

One of the biggest players on the NHL trade market moved Thursday night when the Blackhawks reacquired pending free agent Andrew Ladd from the Jets.

As part of the trade, the Jets get forward Marko Dano plus a first-round draft pick this June and another conditional pick.

The Blackhawks get Ladd, 30, plus Jay Harrison and Matt Fraser. The Jets also retain 36 percent of Ladd's remaining cap hit and salary, sources told ESPN.

The Sharks have acquired defenseman Roman Polak for the stretch run, sending forward Raffi Torres and draft picks to the Maple Leafs.

The Sharks also get forward Nick Spaling, while the Maple Leafs get second-round picks in the 2017 and 2018 drafts.