Blue Jackets trade Cameron Butler to Wild for Brendan Gaunce

The Columbus Blue Jackets announced Thursday that the club has acquired center Brendan Gaunce from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for right winger Cameron Butler.

Through 12 appearances with the Wild last season, Gaunce tallied one assist, four penalty minutes, and a minus-four rating while averaging nearly 10 minutes of time on ice per game. Away from Minnesota, the majority of Gaunce’s playing time came with the minor-league affiliated Iowa Wild where in 39 contests he put up 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points with 20 penalty minutes and a minus-16 mark.

Originally chosen 26th overall by the Vancouver Canucks in the 2012 NHL Draft, the 31-year-old native of Sudbury, Ont., has since seen 189 career contests with the Canucks, Boston Bruins, Blue Jackets, and Wild in which he has registered 13 goals and 16 assists for 29 points. In his most recent stint with the Blue Jackets in 2023-24, Gaunce finished with four points counting two goals and two assists coming in 24 games.

Per PuckPedia, Gaunce has one year remaining on a two-year contract that carries a $775,000 average annual value.

For Butler, the 23-year-old Ottawa native saw a lone appearance with the Blue Jackets last season in addition to a 37-game run with the AHL’s Cleveland Monsters in which he finished with two goals and one assist for three points alongside 74 penalty minutes and a minus-five rating. In all, over three seasons in the AHL, Butler has totaled 11 points counting four goals and seven assists through 91 career contests.

A graduate of the OHL’s Oshawa Generals, Butler originally signed with the Blue Jackets in 2023 as an undrafted free agent. In all, over four seasons in the Canadian junior circuit, Butler totaled 154 points in 257 career contests.

According to PuckPedia, Butler is entering the final year of his three-year, entry-level pact that carries an $853,333 average annual value.