Ahead of today's AHL trade and movement deadline, the Texas Stars have swapped players with the Hershey Bears. Defenseman Mattias Backman will head to the Bears while Washington will send back Darren Dietz. Both will stay on NHL contract with their original NHL organizations.
Generally, trading a player away from their parent club's AHL affiliate indicates the end of the line for that player inside the NHL org. This has been the case in the past with players like Francis Wathier, Ray Sawada and Mathieu Tousignant.
In return, Texas receives defenseman Darren Dietz, who has played in 39 games for Hershey this year (6-6=12).