The Columbus Blue Jackets have traded defenceman Kris Russell to the Saint Louis Blues for defenceman Nikita Nikitin.
Russell, a Caroline, Alberta native, an hour north of Calgary, had two goals and one assist in 12 games for Columbus this season. Russell will be reunited with new Blues' head coach Ken Hitchcock, who was named to his position last weekend after spending four years coaching the Blue Jackets.
Russell is more of an offensive-minded defenceman that hasn't completely developed into the player many thought he might become. He has 76 goals and 120 assists in 196 games.
Russell won two Gold medals for Canada at the World Junior Hockey Championships (2006 in Vancouver and 2007 in Leksand, Sweden).
In other Calgary hockey news, the Philadelphia Flyers signed defenceman Braydon Coburn, a Calgary native, to a four year contract worth $18 million on Wednesday.
While the Calgary Flames have put Brendan Morrison on the injury reserve after inadequate rehabilitation following surgery to repair a torn ACL. They have also sent Niklas Hagman down to the American Hockey League. The Flames have replaced Morrison and Hagman with Paul Byron (a call-up from Abbotsford) and Mikael Backlund, who missed the beginning of the season with a broken finger.
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