The Chicago Blackhawks traded center Tanner Kero to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for center Michael Caput, the team announced Sunday.
Chaput, 26, scored 17 goals and 45 points in 55 regular-season games for the Canucks’ AHL affiliate Utica last season. The 6-foot-2, 204-pound Chaput added two goals and an assist in five playoff games. He led all Utica skaters with nine power-play goals and finished second on the team in overall scoring. He also won 58.1 percent of his faceoffs and did not record a point in nine games with the Canucks.
Chaput joined Vancouver in 2016 after he was not extended a qualifying offer by the Columbus Blue Jackets. In his first season with the Canucks, he posted NHL bests with four goals and five assists in 68 games. He has 17 points (six goals, 11 assists) in 135 career NHL games with Columbus and Vancouver.
Kero, 25, spent the majority of last season in the AHL with the Rockford IceHogs. He scored 20 points (eight goals, 12 assists) in 36 regular-season games before adding three assists in 12 playoff games. He scored one goal and had two helpers in eight games with the Hawks last season.
The 6-0, 185-pound Kero posted 22 points (eight goals, 14 assists) in 72 regular-season games with Chicago since signing as an undrafted free agent out of Michigan Tech in April 2015.