MONTREAL -- The Montreal Canadiens on Monday traded veteran centre Nate Thompson to the Philadelphia Flyers for a fifth-round draft pick in 2021.
Thompson was traded to the Canadiens from the Los Angeles Kings in February of 2019.
In 88 games with the Habs, Thompson scored 21 points (five goals, 16 assists).
Thompson, who will be a free agent at the end of the 2019-2020 NHL season, will be playing with his eighth NHL team when he joins the Flyers.
The move came hours before the NHL's 3 p.m. ET trade deadline.
"It's bittersweet," Thompson said. "I loved my time here. Great group of guys, great organization, coaching staff, management. I have nothing but great things to say. It's tough, but at the same time, to get a chance to play for a really good hockey time that should make the playoffs and make a nice run, I'm going to relish that opportunity and go in and have some fun and play my game.
"Just to say that I've got to play for the Montreal Canadiens in my lifetime, that's right there a feather in my cap," Thompson added. "Where this team's headed, what Marc Bergevin is doing here, the core group of guys, you want to be a part of it and it's the place to be. When you come to Montreal, you realize what this city's all about. This is definitely a spot where I would tell guys to come."
The Canadiens on Monday also traded forward Matthew Peca to the Ottawa Senators for forward Aaron Luchuk and the Senators' seventh-round draft pick in 2020.
The organization also announced that it had traded forward Nick Cousins to the Vegas Golden Knights in exchange for a fourth-round pick in 2021.
On Sunday, the Canadiens announced that they had traded veteran sniper Ilya Kovalchuk to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a third-round draft pick in 2020.
Montreal Canadiens general manager Marc Bergevin granted Kovalchuk his wish of playing for a Stanley Cup contender.
Kovalchuk says Bergevin received better offers from different teams, but the GM wanted to give the veteran winger a say in the matter.
Montreal is six points out of a playoff spot.
Kovalchuk stopped at Montreal's practice facility in Brossard to say farewell to his former Canadiens teammates on Monday before heading to the airport.
The 36-year-old told reporters he was very excited to join Washington and spoke to Capitals star and fellow Russian Alex Ovechkin on Sunday.
A fan favourite in Montreal, Kovalchuk had six goals and 13 points in 22 games with the Canadiens on Jan. 3 after being waived by the Los Angeles Kings a month earlier.
The veteran did not rule out the possibility of returning to Montreal as a free agent on July 1.
"(Montreal is) one of the destinations that will be on my mind," he said. "The fans here, the younger players, the direction this team is going. I like it a lot. It's not goodbye, for sure.
"(The future) is really bright. They have all the right pieces. It's a great team. They will have good results."
