Avalanche add Mikkel Boedker ahead of NHL trade deadline

The Colorado Avalanchehave added a top-six winger for the stretch run, acquiring left-winger Mikkel Boedker from the Arizona Coyotes for veteran NHL forward Alex Tanguay and Canadian junior playersConnor Bleakley and Kyle Wood.

The six-foot, 206-pound Boedker, who has 13 goals and 39 points in 62 games this season, also brings size to the Avalanche, who hold the second wild-card playoff spot in the NHL'sWestern Conference.

A pending unrestricted free agent, Boedker has appeared in 20 post-season contests, posting four goals and nine points.

Boedker told reporters hearing trade rumours was difficult.

"Uncertainty in life is hard," he added. "It doesn't matter what it is or when it is. I think that part's been difficult but it's a job and you gotta do it to the best of your capabilities."

Boedker signed a one-year, $3.75 million US deal last off-season with Arizona and was eligible to sign a new deal on Jan. 1. Before the all-star break in January, Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said the sides were "working on things" but nothing materialized.

Boedker ranked fifth this season on the Coyotes in goals (13) and third in points (39). He has scored only once in his past 26 outings, a span in which the native of Copenhagen, Denmark has chipped in 10 assists.

Tanguay has four goals and22 pointsin 52 games for the Avalanche this season. The 36-year-old has appeared in 1,070 NHL regular-season games, collecting 279 goals and571 assists for 850 points.

Bleackley, a 20-year-old centre with Red Deer of the Western Hockey League,was Colorado's first-round pick (23rd overall). In 47 games with the Rebels this season, he has 13 goals and 41 points and 37 penalty minutes. The High River, Alta., native has 178 points in 251 WHL contests.

Wood, a 19-year-old defenceman with the Ontario Hockey League's North Bay Battalion,its third-round selection (84th overall) in the 2014 NHL draft. The six-foot-five, 223-pounder is fifth on the Battalion with 35 points this season in 40 games.