The Carolina Hurricanes made their second trade of the week today, shipping center Matt Cullen to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for defenseman Alexandre Picard and a second round pick.
Cullen, 33, is a skilled two-way center who reached the 40 point mark this season for the seventh time in his career and is on pace for a career-best 54 point season.
The Senators have sought scoring depth for this second line for some time and Cullen should prove a good fit for the remainder of the season for an Ottawa team peaking at the right time of the year.
He's an unrestricted free agent this summer and given the Senators limited cap space for next season Cullen will likely be a rental player. One shouldn't rule out the possibility of his returning to the Hurricanes this summer.
The asking price for Cullen was thought to be a second round pick, so getting that plus a NHL caliber defenseman in Picard is a bonus for the Hurricanes.
Picard, 24, is now moving to his fourth team in three seasons, having bounced from Philadelphia to Tampa Bay to Ottawa prior to today's move.
In 45 games this season with the Senators he has a career-high 15 points and a plus-minus of -2. He's a restricted free agent coming off a contract paying him $800K per season so he shouldn't be too difficult for the Hurricanes to re-sign.