Photo: Washington Capitals

Alex Prewitt of the Washington Post reported that Jack Hillen did not skate at practice this morning. Now we know why.

The Capitals have traded Jack Hillen and a fourth-round draft pick to the Carolina Hurricanes for defenseman Tim Gleason.

Hillen, 29, played 71 games for the Capitals over the last three seasons. His first two seasons with the club were shortened by freak injuries. He earns about 700 thousand dollars a year in salary and will be an unrestricted free agent next season.

Gleason, 32, is an eleven-year veteran of the NHL. With Carolina (mostly) since 2006, Gleason is a physical, bottom-pairing defenseman on a rental basis. His contract also expires this summer.

Here’s a Vollman player usage chart, delivered by War On Ice, with Gleason and a few other Capitals defenders for context. The color indicates the player’s possession score compared to the team when he’s off the ice. Red is bad; blue is good.

And here’s how Carolina has done over the past nine seasons, with and without Gleason. (39 games with Toronto are in there too in 2013-14).

Gleason doesn’t tilt the ice in his team’s favor, but neither did Hillen.

Here’s the HERO graphs for both players. First, Hillen:

And here’s Gleason:

The team does not yet know if Gleason will play on Sunday against the Maple Leafs.

The Capitals have also placed Aaron Volpatti on waivers, hoping perhaps to increase cap space before the trade deadline.

Mike Vogel has an item about it on Dump’n’Chase. Here’s the press release from the Caps:

ARLINGTON, Va. – The Washington Capitals have acquired defenseman Tim Gleason from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for defenseman Jack Hillen and a fourth round pick, which was previously acquired from Arizona, in the 2015 NHL Draft, senior vice president and general manager Brian MacLellan announced today.

“We are pleased to welcome Tim to our organization,” said MacLellan. “Tim is a veteran, physical defenseman and we feel his experience, toughness and skill set further strengthens our blueline.”

Gleason, 32, has registered 140 points (17g, 123a) in 710 career NHL games with Los Angeles, Toronto and Carolina. The 6’0”, 217-pound defenseman has earned seven points (one goal, six assists) in 55 games with the Hurricanes this season. Gleason played in 546 games during nine seasons with Carolina (2006-14, 14-15), ranking ninth in franchise history in games played. In addition, Gleason ranks fifth in penalty minutes (537), 10th in assists (93) and 12th in points (107) by a defenseman in Hurricanes franchise history.

Gleason represented the United States at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver, and was (+3) in six games as the U.S. won silver. The Clawson, Mich., native has also played for Team USA at the 2008 IIHF World Championship, the 2003 World Junior Championship and the 2001 World Junior Championship.

Gleason was selected by his teammates as the winner of the 2012-13 Steve Chiasson award, given to the Hurricanes player who best exemplifies determination and dedication while proving to be an inspiration to his teammates through his performance and approach to the game. During the 2011-12 season, Gleason was one of four Hurricanes to play in all 82 games, marking the second consecutive season in which he did not miss a game. He led all Hurricanes blueliners and ranked fifth among NHL defensemen in hits (215) during the 2010-11 season and established a new single-season career high in goals (5) during the 2009-10 season.

In 2008-09, Gleason participated in his first NHL playoff season, skating in all 18 postseason contests for Carolina. He ranked tied for ninth in the NHL in blocked shots (34) and hits (59) during the playoffs and ranked first on the team in playoff penalty minutes (32). Gleason scored his first career playoff goal with the overtime game-winner in Game 2 at NJ on April 17, 2009, and earned assists on Jussi Jokinen’s tying goal with 1:20 left and Eric Staal’s winning goal with 0:32 left in Game 7 at NJ on April 28, 2009, marking his first multi-point playoff game.

He completed his first full NHL season in 2005-06, playing in 78 games with the Los Angeles Kings and recorded career highs in assists (19) and points (21). Gleason made his NHL debut (at age 20) with the Kings on Oct. 9, 2003 at Detroit and picked up his first career point (an assist) in his third NHL game on Oct. 12, 2003, at Chicago.

Hillen, 29, earned 71 points (13 goals, 58 assists) in 301 NHL games with the New York Islanders, Nashville and Washington. The 5’11”, 194-pound defenseman recorded five assists in 35 games with the Capitals this season.

The Capitals acquired Arizona’s fourth round pick on March 4, 2014, as part of a trade that sent Martin Erat and John Mitchell to the Coyotes in exchange for Chris Brown and Rostislav Klesla.