The Detroit Red Wings acquired forward Erik Cole and a conditional third-round pick in the 2015 NHL Draft from the Dallas Stars on Sunday for defenseman Mattias Backman, center Mattias Janmark and a second-round pick in this year's draft.
Cole, 36, has 18 goals and 15 assists in 57 games this season. He has 526 points (262 goals, 264 assists) in 881 games with the Carolina Hurricanes, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens and Stars. Cole has six goals and eight assists in 46 Stanley Cup Playoff games.
"Erik's been a big part of our team," Stars general manager Jim Nill said. "I've been watching Erik play now for the last probably 12, 13 years and this might have been one of his best years he's had. He's been a big part of our team. Unfortunately, there's a part to it of where our team's at and where we're building you have to make those decisions and we just want to thank Erik. We think we got some good young prospects out of it, some draft picks and we'll go from there."
Backman, 22, has split this season between Grand Rapids in the American Hockey League and Linkoping of the Swedish Hockey League (SHL). He opened the season with Grand Rapids, where he had four assists in 18 games before being loaned to Linkoping. Backman has played 23 games with Linkoping and has four goals and 12 assists. He was selected by Detroit in the fifth round (No. 146) of the 2011 draft.
Janmark, 22, has played 53 games with Frolunda of the SHL this season and has 13 goals and 23 assists. He was a third-round pick (No. 79) by the Red Wings in 2013.
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