Lightning acquire Michael Milne from Wild for Boris Katchouk

On Sunday, the Tampa Bay Lightning acquired forward Michael Milne from the Minnesota Wild. Heading back to the Wild is winger Boris Katchouk.

Both players had spent most of the past few seasons in the American Hockey League. Milne had been with the Wild’s primary affiliate, the Iowa Wild, while Katchouk had been playing for the Syracuse Crunch, the Lightning’s top farm team.

Katchouk is the only one of the two who has been in the NHL this season. The 27-year-old has appeared in three games, playing with Tampa in mid-November. He didn’t register a point, posting an even plus/minus while averaging 12:11 of ice time. In 21 games with the Crunch, Katchouk had potted four goals and six assists for 10 points.

The Vancouver native was in his second stint with the Lightning, the team that took him in the second round of the 2016 NHL Draft. He signed a one-year, two-way contract on July 1, with the deal carrying an NHL cap hit of $775,000 and a minor-league salary of $250,000.

Katchouk had come to the Lightning after spending the 2024-25 season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ AHL affiliate, on a minor-league deal. He was last in the NHL during the 2023-24 season, when he split time with the Chicago Blackhawks and Ottawa Senators.

In 179 NHL regular-season games, Katchouk has scored 15 goals and 21 assists for 36 points, with 155 points in 261 career AHL appearances.

Milne hasn’t been in the NHL since making his NHL debut with Minnesota on Nov. 16, 2024. Since turning pro in 2022, the Abbotsford native had mostly played with Iowa. In 15 games this season, he has notched a pair of goals and three assists for five points. In 174 career games, the 23-year-old has notched 32 goals and 33 assists for 65 points.

Milne is also on a one-year, two-way deal with an NHL salary of $775,000 and a minor-league cap hit of $100,000.