The Colorado Avalanche grabbed one of the top available forwards, acquiring Mikkel Boedker from the Arizona Coyotes on Monday before the trade deadline.
The Coyotes will receive forward Conner Bleackley, a 2014 first-round pick who was not signed by Colorado; young defenseman Kyle Wood; and veteran forward Alex Tanguay.
"It's very exciting, an exciting team, played against them a lot," Boedker, 26, said on TSN.
He added that it has been a tough couple of weeks leading up to the trade deadline.
The Avalanche are clinging to the second wild card in the West, two points ahead of Minnesota.
Colorado also added an offensive defenseman, getting Eric Gelinas, 24, from the New Jersey Devils for a third-round pick in 2017. Gelinas has a goal and five assists in 34 games this season.
"I really want to go there and have some fun and play some hockey," Gelinas said, according to the Avalanche.
Boedker will be an unrestricted free agent this offseason and has a cap hit of $3.75 million. Tanguay, 35, also will be a UFA and has a cap hit of $3.5 million. Sources tell ESPN.com's Pierre LeBrun that neither team will retain salary in the deal.
Boedker has 13 goals and 26 assists this season, his eighth in the league, all with the Coyotes. His best season came in 2013-14, when he had 19 goals and 32 assists.
Originally taken by the Coyotes in the first round (No. 8 overall) in the 2008 NHL entry draft, Boedker has 80 goals and 133 assists for 213 points in 445 career games.
Adding Boedker gives an already young and talented Avalanche team another weapon.
The Coyotes followed up their trade of Boedker with a pair of deals involving minor leaguers, acquiring forward Matia Marcantuoni from Pittsburgh for forwards Dustin Jeffrey and Dan O'Donoghue, and defenseman James Melindy. Arizona also sent defenseman Corey Potter to Nashville for future considerations.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.