Trade/Transfer

TAMPA BAY – The Tampa Bay Lightning have acquired defenseman Brendan Mikkelson from the Calgary Flames today in exchange for forward Blair Jones, Vice President and General Manager Steve Yzerman announced. Mikkelson will join the Lightning.

Mikkelson, 6-foot-3, 206 pounds, has played in 86 career NHL games with the Flames and the Anaheim Ducks, recording six assists and 40 penalty minutes. He made his NHL debut during the 2008-09 season and played in a career-high 34 games with Anaheim. Mikkelson played in his first NHL game on January 2, 2009 against Philadelphia.

A native of Regina, Saskatchewan, Mikkelson has appeared in 33 games for the Abbotsford Heat this season, notching three goals and 15 points. He is one of three Heat players to skate in all 33 games in 2011-12 and ranks second among all team defensemen in goals, assists and points.

Mikkelson has played in 183 career AHL games with the Portland Pirates, Iowa Chops, Toronto Marlies and Abbotsford. He has amassed 18 career AHL goals and 64 points. Mikkelson helped Portland to the Eastern Conference Finals of the 2008 Calder Cup Playoffs, recording two goals and eight points.

The 24-year-old was claimed off waivers by Calgary from Anaheim on October 19, 2010. He was drafted by the Ducks in the second round, 31st overall, of the 2005 NHL Draft.

If Lightning prospect Daniel Milan is going to turn his season around, it’s not going to be in a Moncton uniform.

The Lightning’s post-training camp free agent signee was traded by Moncton today to Victoriaville for two players, Danick Emond and Jacob Sweeney. The trade was listed on the QMJHL's official website.

Victoriaville is rumored to be after Moncton’s biggest prize, defenseman Brandon Gormley who is currently with Team Canada at the World Junior Championships.

A native of Michigan, Milan made the QMJHL all-rookie team last year after he scored 14 goals and 38 points in 68 games. This season he has just five assists in 33 games. He recently broke a personal 14-game scoreless streak.

Lightning General Manager Steve Yzerman said after he signed Milan that he was signed for his defensive abilities and anything on offense is a bonus, though they probably didn’t envision Milan to slump this bad statistically.

Milan joins a Tigres team who is 11 points above Moncton in the league standings. With Shawinigan hosting the Memorial Cup this year, two QMJHL teams will get in the tournament, and Victoriaville is pushing for that honor.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have announced they have traded Bolt Prospects alumni James Wright and veteran AHLer Mike Vernace to the Florida Panthers in exchange for defensemen Mike Kostka and Evan Oberg.

Kostka (pictured), 26, is a 6'1" 210 pound righty shot defenseman. He played his college hockey with the University of Massachusetts before being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Buffalo Sabres in 2008. A year ago, Kostka led the Rochester Americans in scoring with 16 goals and 55 points in 80 games. This year, with the San Antonio Rampage, the defenseman has only managed 2 goals and 6 points in 18 games.

Oberg, 23, is a 6'0" 191 pound lefty shot defenseman. He played two seasons for the University of Minnesota before being signed as an undrafted free agent by the Vancouver Canucks in 2009. He recorded no points in his 4 career NHL appearances with the Canucks, and his AHL best season was 2009-2010 with the Manitoba Moose, when he scored 3 goals and 26 points in 70 games. He has just 2 points in 12 games this year for the Rampage.

Wright, 21, surprisingly made the Lightning out of camp in 2009-2010 and played 48 NHL games before being returned to his junior team. Since then, Wright has never returned to the big leagues and he struggled offensively to start this year with just 1 goal and 5 points in 22 games. The 2008 4th round pick had 16 goals and 47 points with Norfolk of the AHL last year, which was his rookie season as a professional. His departure is perhaps the biggest news of today's transaction.

General Manager and Head Coach Drew Schoneck announced Monday that the Tri-City Storm acquired Tampa Bay Lightning prospect goalie Adam Wilcox from the Green Bay Gamblers for a first round draft pick in the 2012 USHL Entry Draft.

“We felt that, while Pheonix (Copley) has played well for us so far this season, we could add a champion-like goalie in Wilcox to help this team take it to the next level,” Schoneck said in a Storm press release. “Adam was a major part of the success in Green Bay over the past year, and split time with a quality goalie in (Ryan) McKay, which allowed him to battle for his time.”

“We expect Adam to be a big addition to the Storm. He adds a little more winning experience to this team, and hope that he and Pheonix will lead this team to more wins overall.”

TSN's Bob McKenzie is Tweeting forward Mattias Ritola has cleared unconditional waivers and Swedish newspaper Aftonbladet is reporting he will be latching on with MODO of the Elitserien. Ritola, who has spent parts of two seasons with the Lightning since being claimed off waivers from the Detroit Red Wings, refused assignment to Norfolk of the AHL last week.

Happy trails to you you too, Ritz.