Philadelphia Flyers deal rights to D Dan Hamhuis to Pittsburgh Penguins

LOS ANGELES, Calif. - Dan Hamhuis is on the move again.

The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired the rights to the durable defenceman from the Philadelphia Flyers on Friday in exchange for a third-round pick in the 2011 draft.

Hamhuis, 27, spent his first six NHL seasons with the Nashville Predators before being traded to the Flyers last week.

He was originally drafted 12th overall by the Predators in 2001 when Penguins GM Ray Shero was with the Nashville organization.

Philadelphia acquired Hamhuis for defenceman Ryan Parent and a conditional draft pick from Nashville on June 19th in hopes he would sign a contract with the Flyers.

Now Shero will have a few days to negotiate with Hamhuis before he becomes a free agent.

"I'll have a conversation with Dan," said Shero. "I've not talked to him yet. We just did the deal at the end of the first round. I'll give him a call tonight, see if I can reach him, and try to sell him on the merits of playing in Pittsburgh."

The six-foot-one, 209-pound Hamhuis, who will be an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, appeared in 78 games for the Predators in 2009-10, recording five goals, 19 assists and a plus-4 rating.

The native of Smithers, B.C., has 32 goals and 161 points in 483 career regular-season games. His best season came in 2005-06 when he posted career-highs across the board with seven goals, 31 assists, 38 points and a plus-11 rating in 82 games with the Predators.

Parent averaged 14 minutes 46 seconds of ice time in 48 games with the Flyers in 2009-10. He also appeared in 17 playoff games with the Stanley Cup runners-up.