The Nashville Predators have traded the rights to one of their top defensemen, Dan Hamhuis, to the Eastern Conference champion Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for defenseman Ryan Parent. Nashville is also sending a conditional 7th round pick in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft as part of the deal.

Hamhuis will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. If Philadelphia does not sign him prior to the 2010-11 season, Nashville will transfer its own 7th round pick in 2011 to Philadelphia. Additionally, if Philadelphia trades the rights to Hamhuis prior to July 1 the conditional pick will not be transferred.

Hamhuis, selected by the Predators with the 12th pick in the 2001 draft, completed his sixth NHL season by recording 5 goals and 24 points in 78 regular-season games, adding a pair of assists in six playoff games. In 483 career regular-season games for Nashville, he has 32 goals and 161 points.

"Our intention is to get him signed prior to [July 1], and that is what our aim is at this point in time," Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren said. "The sooner that we get going on trying to get this done, the better."

The Flyers are high on the durability of Hamhuis, who played at least 80 regular-season games in each of his first five seasons.

"Dan Hamhuis is a good all-around defenseman," Holmgren said. "He's a guy who can play lots of minutes and he can play in a lot of different situations, from power play to killing penalties. He is another athlete we'd like to add to our team to continue to improve our defense."

Hamhuis sounded excited about the potential of signing a new contract with Philadelphia.

"Obviously it is sad to leave the Predators. I spent some great years with them and it is great organization to be a part of," said Hamhuis. "I've heard nothing but great things about the city of Philadelphia and the Flyers.

"I think Philly has an unbelievable defensive core. To join a core like that makes the Flyers one of the tougher ones in the League. To play against the teams from the East, the conference has a lot of great forwards, and watching the playoffs, having a great defense will get you a long way."

Parent is also a former first-round pick by the Predators, going No. 18 in the 2005 draft. He never played an NHL game for Nashville, however, getting sent to Philadelphia as part of the Peter Forsberg trade. In 102 games over parts of four seasons for the Flyers, Parent recorded 1 goal and 7 points. He also scored a goal in 17 playoff games this past season during the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final.

"I think Ryan is a good kid. He is an extremely hard worker. We certainly thank him for his services and his time here," said Holmgren. "He has a lot of upside as a player and he is going back to an organization that obviously knows him because they drafted him."