The Edmonton Oilers have traded forward Drake Caggiula and defenceman Jason Garrison to the Chicago Blackhawks for defenceman Brandon Manning and defence prospect Robin Norell.
The news comes hours after the Oilers acquired another defenceman, Alex Petrovic, from the Florida Panthers in exchange for defenceman Chris Wideman and a third-round pick.
The Oilers’ blue-line has been hit hard by injuries this season, with veterans Andrej Sekera (achilles), Oscar Klefbom (hand) and Kris Russell (groin) all currently out of the lineup.
Manning, 28, joined the Blackhawks as a free agent in July after spending parts of six seasons with the Philadelphia Flyers. The Prince George, B.C., native is well known to Oilers fans, after a hit he threw on Connor McDavid in 2015 sidelined the star centre for three months in his rookie season.
In 2016 following a rematch with Manning and the Flyers, McDavid called the hit “classless” and accused Manning of hurting him on purpose, something Manning denied. McDavid scored in the game and was seen shouting something to Manning when skating by the Flyers’ bench.
Manning is signed through the end of the 2019-20 season with a cap hit of $2.25 million.
Norell, 23, was a fourth-round pick by the Blackhawks in 2013. He’s currently on loan to Djurgårdens IF of the Swedish Hockey League after playing the previous two seasons with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs. In 28 SHL games, Norell has three assists and 14 penalty minutes.
Caggiula, 24, is in his third NHL season after signing with Oilers as a college free agent in 2016. He is currently in the first year of a two-year, $3 million contract.
In 29 games this season Caggiula has seven goals and 11 points.
Garrison, 34, signed with the Oilers to a league-minimum contract after appearing in training camp on a player-tryout contract. In 17 games this season he has one goal.
The Oilers also announced that the team has recalled forward Joseph Gambardella from the American Hockey League’s Bakersfield Condors. The 25-year-old leads the Oilers’ AHL affiliate in points (21) and goals (12) in 28 games this season.
