Blackhawks, Hurricanes swap Calder Cup champs

Photos: Gregg Forwerck, Greg Hamil

The Chicago Blackhawks have acquired defenseman Calvin de Haan and forward Aleksi Saarela from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for goaltender Anton Forsberg and defenseman Gustav Forsling.

Saarela, 22, scored 30 goals and added 24 assists for 54 points in 69 regular-season games with the AHL’s Charlotte Checkers in 2018-19, helping them to the best record in the league.

He added seven goals and eight assists in 15 postseason games as the Checkers captured their first Calder Cup championship.

A third-round choice by the New York Rangers in the 2015 NHL Draft, Saarela made his NHL debut with Carolina on Apr. 20 against Washington, in Game 5 of their first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series.

In 147 regular-season AHL games with Charlotte, Saarela has totaled 61 goals and 46 assists for 107 points. He has also notched nine goals and nine assists in 30 postseason games, and his 64 goals (regular season and playoffs) over the last two seasons are tied for the most in the AHL.

Forsberg, 26, spent the 2018-19 season with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs, going 15-15-2 in 32 appearances with a 2.64 goals-against average and a .919 save percentage, which ranked fourth in the league.

Forsberg has a career record of 88-50-12 (2.31, .922) with nine shutouts in 158 AHL appearances with Rockford, Lake Erie/Cleveland and Springfield. He won a Calder Cup championship with the Monsters in 2016, going 9-0 (1.34, .949) in 10 outings that spring.

A seventh-round pick by Columbus in the 2011 NHL Draft, Forsberg has compiled a record of 11-24-4 (3.21, .901) in 45 NHL appearances with the Blue Jackets and Blackhawks.