The Hurricanes have acquired centre Josef Vasicek from the Nashville Predators in exchange for centre Eric Belanger.

The Carolina Hurricanes have reached into their not-too-distant past to shake up their third line centre position.
The Hurricanes have acquired centre Josef Vasicek from the Nashville Predators in exchange for centre Eric Belanger.
Vasicek, 26, netted 13 points in 38 games with the Predators this season and has been a healthy scratch recently. After being acquired from the Hurricanes by Nashville for forward Scott Walker on July 18, 2006, he returns to Carolina, where he played 316 NHL games from 2001-2006.
The 6-foot-5, 214-pound centre had a career-high 45 points with the Hurricanes in 2003-2004, but missed a large portion of the 2005-2006 season with a knee injury before getting traded in the offseason.
"We're obviously very familiar with Joe and the type of game he is capable of bringing to the Hurricanes," Hurricanes GM Jim Rutherford said in a statement. "Going back to his natural position of centre, with his size and strength, will help our team down the stretch."

Belanger, 29, has posted 20 points in 56 games this season for Carolina. The 6-foot, 195-pound Sherbrooke, Que. native ranks second on the Hurricanes in face-off winning percentage (53.4%). He was acquired by the 'Canes in a training-camp deal, along with Tim Gleason, from Los Angeles for Oleg Tverdovsky and Jack Johnson.
Both players are earning $1.3-million this season.

Hockey Guy Notes: Good trades by both teams and Vasicek was not fitting in the preds lineup!