Carolina deals Battaglia to Avalanche for skilled winger

	Right wing Radim Vrbata has 30 points in 66 games for Colorado this season.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the Carolina Hurricanes, announced today that the team has acquired right wing Radim Vrbata from the Colorado Avalanche in exchange for left wing Bates Battaglia.

“This is a trade that involves two very different types of players,” said Rutherford. “Radim is a young, highly-skilled winger.”

Vrbata (6’1’’, 190 lbs.) is in his second NHL season with the Avalanche and has 30 points (11g, 19a) in 66 games for Colorado this season. Vrbata, 21, tallied 30 points (18g, 12a) in 52 games during his rookie season in 2001-02. He scored 254 points (107g, 147a) in 167 career games in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with Hull and Shawnigan, including 120 points (56g, 64a) in his final season of junior hockey in 2000-01. Colorado selected the Mlada Boleslav, Czech Republic, native in the seventh round, 212th overall, of the 1999 NHL Entry Draft.

Battaglia has played 402 career NHL games – all with the Hurricanes – totaling 150 points (63g, 87a) and 281 penalty minutes. Acquired on March 18, 1997 from the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim along with a fourth-round pick in the 1998 Entry Draft (Josef Vasicek) in exchange for Mark Janssens, Battaglia has 19 points (5g, 14a) in 70 games with Carolina this season.

The Hurricanes travel to Buffalo this afternoon and begin a two-game road trip when they take on the Sabres on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at HSBC Arena (Fox Sports Net, Hurricanes radio network). Carolina then travels to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers at 7 p.m. at First Union Center on Thursday (FSN, Hurricanes radio network). The Hurricanes return home on Saturday as they host the Los Angeles Kings at 7 p.m. at the RBC Center. Tickets for that game and all Hurricanes games are available via the team’s official website, CarolinaHurricanes.com, the Dodge Box Office at the RBC Center or by calling 919-834-4000.