The Calgary Flames have acquired defensemen Matt Taormina and Rinat Valiev from the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Brett Kulak.
Taormina, a four-time AHL All-Star, skated in 63 games with the Laval Rocket last season, recording four goals and 48 assists for 52 points. He won the Eddie Shore Award as the AHL’s outstanding defenseman in 2016-17.
In 502 regular-season games over his AHL career, Taormina has totaled 74 goals and 238 assists for 312 points with Laval, Syracuse, Worcester, Springfield, Albany, Lowell and Binghamton. He has also recorded nine goals and 29 assists for 38 points in 53 postseason games, reaching the Calder Cup Finals with the Crunch in 2013 and 2017.
A native of Warren, Mich., Taormina has also appeared in 59 NHL games with New Jersey and Tampa Bay.
Valiev, a fourth-year pro, totaled six goals and 12 assists for 18 points in 45 AHL games between Toronto and Laval last season. He also appeared in two NHL contests with Montreal.
The 23-year-old native of Nizhnekamsk, Russia, has 13 goals and 41 assists for 54 points in 154 career AHL games with Toronto and Laval. He also has one assist in 21 postseason contests.
Valiev was a third-round selection by Toronto in the 2014 NHL Draft, and has skated in career NHL games with the Maple Leafs and Canadiens.
Kulak, 24, is coming off his first full NHL season, posting eight points in 71 games with Calgary in 2017-18.
The fifth-year pro has two goals and nine assists in 101 career NHL contests, to go with 10 goals and 33 assists in 117 AHL games.
