Blues acquire Della Rovere from Caps

The St. Louis Blues, parent club of the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen, announced Wednesday that they have acquired Stefan Della Rovere from the Washington Capitals in exchange for forward D.J. King.

Della Rovere, 20, spent last season with the Barrie Colts of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) and captained the Colts to a league best 57-9-0-2 (116 points) record. He helped the Colts win the Eastern Conference championship before losing to Windsor in the OHL championship.

After the OHL playoffs, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound forward went on to play for the 2010 Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears. Della Rovere made his professional debut in Game 4 of the AHL’s Eastern Conference finals vs. Manchester and finished with two postseason games played for Hershey.

Della Rovere also was a member of Team Canada’s silver medal team in the 2010 World Junior Championship and gold medal team in the 2009 World Junior Championship.

The Richmond Hill, Ont., native spent his last four seasons with Barrie, playing in 230 games, registering 138 points (65 goals, 73 assists) along with 479 penalty minutes.

Della Rovere was originally drafted by Washington in the seventh round, 204th overall, in the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.

King, 26, played in 12 games last season with the Blues, recording 33 penalty minutes. The 6-3, 230-pound forward has skated in 101 NHL games, all with the Blues, posting nine points (four goals, five assists) along with 185 penalty minutes.

The Meadow Lake, Sask., native was originally drafted by the Blues in the sixth round, 190th overall in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft.