Ducks acquire Tomas Fleischmann

ByPierre LeBrun ESPN logo
Saturday, February 28, 2015

The Anaheim Ducks added an offensive piece before the trade deadline Saturday, acquiring winger Tomas Fleischmann from the Florida Panthers.

In return, the Panthers received a third-round pick in this June's draft, plus the rights to Dany Heatley.

Heatley has been playing most of the season in the AHL after the Ducks sent him down earlier this year. A source told ESPN.com that Heatley and his $1 million salary was included in the deal to help alleviate Fleischmann's $4.5-million salary.

Fleischmann had a limited no-trade clause and Anaheim was indeed on the list of teams he'd agree to get traded to.

Fleischmann, 30, gets reunited with head coach Bruce Boudreau in Anaheim; the two were together in 2009-10, when the Czech winger put up 23 goals and 28 assists for the Capitals.

The Panthers weren't going to re-sign Fleischmann, a pending unrestricted free agent, because they wanted to make room on the roster for younger players. So Florida general manager Dale Tallon wanted to recoup an asset before losing him after the season.

Tallon gave up a second-round pick and a third-round pick for Jaromir Jagr earlier this week but also garnered a pair of third-round picks between the Fleischmann deal and the Sean Bergenheim trade last week.

It's the second trade for the Ducks over the past week. Anaheim also shipped winger Devante Smith-Pelly to Montreal in return for Jiri Sekac.