The Minnesota Wild, parent club of the AHL’s Houston Aeros, announced on Friday that the club has acquired center Erik Westrum and defenseman Dustin Wood from the Phoenix Coyotes, parent club of the AHL’s San Antonio Rampage, in exchange for defenseman Zbynek Michalek.
Westrum, 26, collected 33 points (15g, 18a) and 117 penalty minutes in 80 games with the Utah Grizzlies of the American Hockey League last year. The 6-foot, 204-pound forward ranked first on the team in goals and shorthanded goals (4) and third in points.
In 279 career AHL games with Utah and Springfield, Westrum tallied 55 goals and 84 assists for 139 points. He made his NHL debut against Minnesota on Mar. 7, 2004, and appeared in the Coyotes’ final 15 games of the 2003-04 season, notching two points (1g, 1a). The Minneapolis native registered his first career NHL goal against Detroit on Mar. 18, 2004.
Westrum collected five points (3g, 2a) in nine games for the United States at the 2004 World Hockey Championships in Prague, Czech Republic.
Wood, 24, recorded 10 points (2g, 8a) and 39 penalty minutes in 80 games with Utah last season. The 6-foot-1, 208-pound native of Scarborough, Ont., has appeared in 161 AHL contests with Utah, Springfield and Bridgeport, totaling four goals and 14 assists.
Michalek, 22, tallied seven goals and 17 assists in 76 games for Houston in 2004-05, and had 16 goals and 43 assists for 59 points in 193 games over three seasons with the Aeros.
A member of Houston’s 2003 Calder Cup championship squad, Michalek has recorded one goal and one assist in 22 NHL games with Minnesota. The Czech-born defenseman was originally signed by the Wild as a free agent in 2001.
