The Minnesota Wild have traded defenceman Gustav Olofsson to the Montreal Canadiens for minor league forward Will Bitten.

The deal was done on Wednesday, after Olofsson cleared waivers. The second-round pick in the 2013 draft played in 41 games for the Wild last season, tallying eight assists. The 23-year-old became expendable with the summer signing of Greg Pateryn and the emergence last season of Nick Seeler. Nate Prosser was already ahead of Olofsson as the extra blue-liner.

The 20-year-old Bitten, who can play centre or right wing, had 20 goals and 44 assists in 62 games last season for his junior team in the OHL. He was drafted by Montreal in the third round in 2016. Bitten was assigned to Minnesota's AHL affiliate in Iowa.