Reed, McNicoll in Avs-Canes swap

The Colorado Avalanche, parent club of the AHL’s Lake Erie Monsters, have acquired forwards Stephane Yelle and Harrison Reed from the Carolina Hurricanes, parent club of the AHL’s Albany River Rats, in exchange for forward Cedric McNicoll and a sixth-round pick in the 2010 Entry Draft.

Reed, 22, has spent most of the 2009-10 season with the Albany River Rats, where he has posted one goal and five assists in 49 games.

The Newmarket, Ont., native was a third-round draft choice by Carolina in 2006. He recorded five goals and four assists in 70 games as a rookie with Albany in 2008-09.

McNicoll, 21, is in his first full professional season, spending most it with Lake Erie. He has totaled five goals and eight assists (13 points) in 45 games with the Monsters.

McNicoll was signed by Colorado as an undrafted free agent on Mar. 6, 2009, after scoring 104 points (38g, 66a) in 65 games during his final season of junior hockey with Shawinigan (QMJHL). He was named to the QMJHL’s First All-Star Team in 2008-09, and earned the QMJHL’s most sportsmanlike player and the Canadian Hockey League’s Sportsman of the Year award for the second consecutive season.

Yelle, a 14-year NHL veteran, returns for his second stint with the Avalanche, where he was a member of two Stanley Cup championship teams (1996, 2001). Originally drafted by New Jersey in 1992, Yelle has appeared in 980 NHL contests after spending his rookie season with the AHL’s Cornwall Aces in 1994-95.