Penguins acquire defenseman Thimo Nickl from Anaheim in exchange for Judd Caulfield

Justin Guerriero
Friday, March 31, 2023 3:35 p.m. | Friday, March 31, 2023 3:35 p.m.

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Thimo Nickl skates during the CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game on Jan. 16, 2020 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

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Judd Caulfield poses after being selected 145th overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins during the 2019 NHL Draft at Rogers Arena on June 22, 2019 in Vancouver, Canada.

North Dakota’s Judd Caulfield (28) during an NCAA hockey game on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022, in Omaha, Neb.

The Pittsburgh Penguins acquired defenseman Thimo Nickl from Anaheim in exchange for Judd Caulfield on Friday afternoon.

The Penguins and Ducks exchanged signing rights for the two players. Per CapFriendly, Caulfield’s signing rights were set to expire Aug. 15, whereas the Penguins will have until June 1, 2024, to sign Nickl.

The 21-year-old Nickl is a native of Klagenfurt, Austria, and was a fourth-round selection by the Ducks in the 2020 NHL Draft.

In 47 games with AIK of HockeyAllsvenskan, which is the second-highest professional league in Sweden, Nickl has eight assists.

He has played parts of three campaigns with HockeyAllsvenskan, posting a pair of goals and 16 assists in 88 career games.

The Penguins have acquired defenseman Thimo Nickl from the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Judd Caulfield.

Full details: https://t.co/zr68yZzJZL pic.twitter.com/nGKLKJbH8T

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) March 31, 2023

In 2020-21, the 6-foot-2, 176-pound blueliner played 15 games for Rogle BK of the Swedish Hockey League, the country’s top league.

Caulfield, 22, is a senior forward at the University of North Dakota. The Penguins selected him in the fifth round of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft.

In 39 games with the Fighting Hawks this season, Caulfield has 10 goals and nine assists.

Nickl’s acquisition marks the second transaction general manager Ron Hextall has made with Anaheim this season.

On March 3, Hextall sent winger Brock McGinn and a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft to the Ducks in exchange for defenseman Dmitry Kulikov.

Justin Guerriero is a TribLive reporter covering the Penguins, Pirates and college sports. A Pittsburgh native, he is a Central Catholic and University of Colorado graduate. He joined the Trib in 2022 after covering the Colorado Buffaloes for Rivals and freelancing for the Denver Post. He can be reached at jguerriero@triblive.com.