National Hockey League

Wings acquire gritty power forward Cole from Dallas for two prospects

Published Mar. 1, 2015 8:37 p.m. ET

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In a deal with his former assistant in Detroit, Red Wings general manager Ken Holland on Sunday gave up two prospects to acquire veteran left wing Eric Cole from the Dallas Stars.

In return for Cole and a third-round draft pick, Dallas GM Jim Nill acquired two young Swedes, Mattias Backman and Mattias Janmark, along with a second-round draft pick.

The league confirmed the deal late Sunday night.

In 57 games for Dallas this season, Cole has 18 goals, 15 assists and 14 penalty minutes. He's in the final season of a four-year, $18 million contract and will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2014-15 season.

A native of Oswego, N.Y., Cole, 36, has the reputation of being a quality veteran power forward who plays with a take-no-prisoners attitude. Besides being gritty, he has good scoring instincts and leads by example, scouts say.

Holland made the deal Sunday night, when he planned to have his scouting staff at his home to weigh options before Monday's 3 p.m. NHL trade deadline.

Backman, a 22-year-old defenseman, was Detroit's fifth-round pick (146th overall) of the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. In 23 games this season in Sweden for Linkopings HC, he has four goals among 16 points.

Janmark, 22, is a center selected by the Red Wings in the third round (79th overall) of the 2013 draft. He has 13 goals among 36 points in 53 games for Frolunda HC of the Swedish Hockey League.

Both Backman and Janmark have logged some ice time with Detroit's American Hockey League affiliate in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Cole is a veteran of 881 career NHL games. Besides Dallas, he's played in Montreal, Edmonton and Carolina.

The deal was first reported by Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet. He also said that the third-round pick Dallas gave up will be returned if the Wings advance to the third round of the Stanley Cup playoffs this spring.

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