Texas and Wilkes-Barre Swap Players Ahead of Tonight's Game

Oula Palve (Credit: WBS Penguins)

The Dallas Stars have traded defenseman John Nyberg to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forward Oula Palve. Given that the two AHL teams are playing each other tonight, the players will simply flip locker rooms.

With Stephen Johns returning to health, Dallas is unlikely to have regular need for Joel Hanley at this point. Already having eight defenseman, Dallas opted to slim things up on the farm and give Nyberg a chance to play elsewhere. The Swedish defenseman has only played 19 games and collected six points. He's been a healthy scratch as often as he hasn't, which is not ideal for his development.

Oula Palve is a Finnish free agent signing for Pittsburgh. This is his first year in North America at the age of 27. He had 51 points in 53 games with TPS in Finland last year.

Here's the release:

Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that the club has acquired forward Oula Palve via trade from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for defenseman John Nyberg. Palve has been assigned to the Texas Stars.

Palve, 27, has registered eight points (1-7=8) in 37 AHL contests with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season in his North American debut. Palve skated with TPS Turku (Liiga) during the 2018-19 campaign, finishing the season tied for sixth in Finland's top professional league with a team-leading 51 points (16-35=51) in 53 games, both career highs. The forward also led TPS Turku with 35 assists and finished third on the team with a career-best 16 goals.

The 6-foot, 176-pound native of Keuruu, Finland was originally undrafted and signed as a free agent by Pittsburgh on April 22, 2019.

Nyberg, 23, has recorded six points (2-4=6) in 19 AHL games with Texas this season. The defenseman has posted 12 points (3-9=12) in 63 career regular-season AHL contests over two seasons with Texas. Nyberg also made his Calder Cup Playoffs debut in 2018, logging two assists (0-2=2) in eight postseason contests with Texas.

The 6-foot-3, 195-pound native of Lundy, Sweden was originally selected by Dallas in the sixth round (165th overall) of the 2014 NHL Draft.

The Stars and Penguins conclude their four-game season series and a five-game Texas homestand on Friday, Jan. 17 at 7 p.m. The team will then begin a two-game road trip to Iowa and Rockford for a pair of Central Division matchups.