The Canucks dealt defenseman Lukas Krajicek and forward Juraj Simek to the Lightning yesterday for defenseman Shane O'Brien and right wing Michel Ouellet.

Ouellet, with 54 goals in 187 NHL games with the Penguins and Lightning, was already in the AHL with Norfolk after clearing waivers last week. Ouellet, with a salary of $1.3 million this season, will be sent to Vancouver's minor-league team in Manitoba.

O'Brien fills a defensive spot created when the Canucks lost Nathan McIver to a waiver wire claim from the Ducks over the weekend. O'Brien has 37 points and 330 penalty minutes in 158 games.

Krajicek missed most of last season with a shoulder injury that required surgery and slipped down the depth chart with the emergence of rookie Alexander Edler and the additions of Rob Davison and Lawrence Nycholat. Simek was a sixth-round pick in 2006, and has yet to play an NHL game.

Forward Scott Walker is expected to be miss six weeks after surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left hand. ... The Hurricanes signed former Penguins forward Dan LaCouture to a one-year contract worth $475,000 in the NHL or $50,000 at the minor league level.

Left wing Ryan Hollweg received an automatic two-game suspension after collecting his third boarding or checking from behind major in a 41-game span.

Defenseman Karl Alzner, the Capitals' 2007 first-round pick and forward Chris Bourque were assigned to Hershey of the AHL.

Goaltender Dan LaCosta was assigned to Syracuse of the AHL while defenseman Richard Matvichuk was released from his tryout contract.