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Walser returning to Crunch

The Carolina Hurricanes, parent club of the AHL’s Albany River Rats, have traded defenseman Derrick Walser to the Columbus Blue Jackets, parent club of the AHL’s Syracuse Crunch, in exchange for defenseman Mark Flood.

Walser has been assigned to the Crunch, while Flood will report to the River Rats.

Walser, 28, has registered one assist in six games with Albany this season. He has 64 goals, 125 assists and 256 penalty minutes in 285 career AHL games with Saint John, Syracuse and Albany, and won a Calder Cup championship with the Flames in 2001. He also represented Syracuse in the 2002 AHL All-Star Classic.

A native of New Glasgow, N.S., Walser has tallied six goals and 21 assists for 27 points with 56 PIM in 82 career NHL games, all with the Columbus Blue Jackets.

This is Walser’s second stint with the Blue Jackets; he signed with the organization as a free agent on Sept. 17, 2001, and spent three seasons between Columbus and Syracuse. His rights were dealt by Columbus to Carolina on July 30, 2005.

Flood, 22, is in his second professional season and has recorded a goal and an assist in eight games this season with Syracuse. The Charlottetown, P.E.I., native spent most of the 2005-06 season with Dayton of the ECHL, recording 11 goals and 14 assists for 25 points in 50 games with the Bombers. He added a goal and an assist in nine AHL games with the Crunch last year.

Flood signed as a free agent with Columbus on Aug. 18, 2005, following his four-year major junior career with Peterborough (OHL).