– Jim Rutherford, President and General Manager of the National Hockey League’s Carolina Hurricanes, today announced that the team has acquired forward Kevin Westgarth from the Los Angeles Kings. In exchange for Westgarth, Carolina has traded forward Anthony Stewart , its 2013 fourth-round draft pick and a sixth-round selection in the 2014 draft to the Kings.

“We were looking for a character, team guy who can play a gritty role for our team,” said Rutherford. “Kevin is a good addition to fill that spot.”

Westgarth, 28, is entering his seventh professional season. In 2011-12, he played 25 games with Los Angeles, notching one goal, earning one assist (2 points) and accumulating 39 penalty minutes. In 90 career NHL regular-season games with the Kings, the Amhurstberg, Ont., native has earned five points (1g, 4a) while totaling 153 penalty minutes. Westgarth appeared in all six of the Kings’ 2011 postseason games, recording two assists, 14 penalty minutes and a plus-2 rating.

Westgarth (6’4”, 234 lbs.) originally signed with Los Angeles as a free agent on March 16, 2007, after four seasons at Princeton University. In addition to his NHL experience, he has totaled 22 goals, 28 assists (50 points) and 580 penalty minutes in 224 American Hockey League (AHL) games with Manchester.