The Ottawa Senators pulled off a major trade on Sunday, acquiring Canadian Olympic team forward Matt Duchene from the Colorado Avalanche in a three-team deal that also involved the Nashville Predators.

The 26-year-old Duchene, who won a gold medal at the 2014 Sochi Games, was shipped to Ottawa as the Avalanche picked up a package of young prospects and National Hockey League draft picks.

The deal was finalized as Colorado was playing the New York Islanders at Barclays Center arena in New York, resulting in Duchene skating off the ice and heading to the dressing room halfway through the first period.

He won't have to wait long to face his former team as the Senators will take on the Avalanche in Stockholm, Sweden, on Friday and Saturday.

Canadian Kyle Turris was the other big name involved in the trade. He is headed from Ottawa to Nashville which already agreed to sign him to a $36 million contract extension.

The Avalanche received the lion's share of players, getting back two players apiece from the Senators and Predators as well as three picks in next year's entry draft.

Ottawa sent 18-year-old rookie centre Shane Bowers, goalie Andrew Hammond and first- and third-round picks to Colorado, which also acquired defenceman Samuel Girard and rookie left winger Vladislav Kamenev as well as second-round pick from Nashville.

"We feel this deal brings us some top prospects as well as some high draft picks as we continue to build for both the short and long-term future," Avalanche general manager Joe Sakic said.

"We've said all along that we wanted to be patient and wait for the right deal, and this is the opportunity we feel is best for the organization."

Duchene is a highly-skilled forward, who has four goals and six assists in 14 games this season.

The third overall pick in the 2009 draft has 178 goals and 428 points in 585 career games.

Besides winning gold in Sochi, Duchene won gold at the 2015 and 2016 World Championships.

Turris has three goals and nine points in 11 games this season. He scored a career-high 27 goals last season.

The 21-year-old Russian Kamenev was a second-round draft pick of the Predators in 2014. Kamenev has three goals and five assists in 10 games with Nashville's American Hockey League farm team this season.

Source:AFP