Red Wings trade Riley Sheahan to Penguins for Scott Wilson

Detroit moves Sheahan to make room for Athanasiou

iley Sheahan of the Detroit Red Wings faces off during a game against the Florida Panthers at BB&T Center on December 23, 2016 in Sunrise, Florida. (Photo by Mike Ehrmann/Getty Images)

DETROIT – The Detroit Red Wings have traded forward Riley Sheahan and a 5th round pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for forward Scott Wilson and a 3rd round pick. 

The Penguins and Red Wings announced the transaction Saturday evening, a day after the Red Wings agreed to a 1-year deal with forward Andreas Athanasiou, who had been a contract stalemate with the club. 

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The Red Wings needed to make room on their salary cap before signing Athanasiou. On Saturday they also traded defenseman Ryan Sproul to the New York Rangers in exchange for defenseman Matt Puempel. 

Sheahan was first-round pick

The Red Wings selected Sheahan, now 25, 21st overall in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. He was considered a strong, smart center out of Notre Dame. Since 2012, Sheahan has appeared in 292 games with the Red Wings in which he has scored 38 goals and 60 assists. 

Last year Sheahan nearly went the entire season without scoring a goal. He finished the year with 2 goals and 11 assists in 80 games. 

During his time in Detroit, Sheahan became known off the ice for his work with dogs at the Michigan Humane Society.

Sproul spent limited time with Wings since 2012

Meanwhile, Sproul, who was a second-round pick by Detroit in 2011, played just 28 games with the Red Wings since joining the club in 2012. He excelled with the AHL's Grand Rapids Griffins for several seasons, the team with which he has been playing this season. 

The 24-year-old defenseman has a strong righthanded shot. He now heads to New York where the Red Wings sent defenseman Brendan Smith this past spring.