The Ducks, who have to deal with the Kings and Blackhawks in the postseason, got themselves a perfect second-line center for the job. Kesler has some time left in his prime, two years on his contract and cost Anaheim relatively little.

Kesler had 25 goals and 43 points in 77 games last season after missing most of 2013. He was a 41-goal scorer in 2010-11, also when he won the Selke, and turns 30 in August. He’ll look great in the Ducks’ new jerseys. (Just kidding. They are truly horrendous.)

Nick Bonino is the principle return; he’s 26, coming off a decent (if power-play inflated and possibly lucky) season and can take Kesler’s spot in the lineup. Of Bonino’s 49 points, 20 came with the man advantage — partially a function of playing with Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry. Kesler can do that, too.

In short, Bonino is useful. He may not be a true No. 2 center — his possession numbers and usage certainly suggest as much — but he’s fine.

Defenseman Luca Sbisa, who’s injury-prone and overpaid for a third-pairing defenseman, is also headed back to Vancouver, along with the 24th pick in Friday’s first round.

“This trade reinforces our goal to add youth, support our core players and develop draft picks who will contribute to the future success of our team," GM Jim Benning said in a team release.

Is that a truly fair return for Kesler? Probably not, especially given that the Canucks, under former GM Mike Gillis, seemed to turn down better packages at the trade deadline. Benning had next to no leverage, though — Kesler wanted out and had a full no-movement clause that he used to great extent; it seems like he’d only accept moves to the Ducks and Blackhawks.

So if you’re Benning, what else can you do? A second-line center who needs to play relatively easy minutes, a first-round pick and a question-mark defenseman was as good as it could get. Tough luck, but that’s what happens with no-trade clauses. Ottawa Senators fans are going to see that play out, to lesser extent, with Jason Spezza.

CANUCKS DO MORE DEALING

The Canucks and Lightning each got what they needed out of their draft-day trade.

The Lightning, primed to contend in the Eastern Conference, needed a second-pairing defenseman and power-play guy. Enter Jason Garrison, who struggled through an injury-marked second season with the Canucks but was a legitimate top-four guy for years before that.

Garrison, 29, counts for $4.6 million against the cap for four more seasons. Fifteen of his 36 points last season came with the man advantage. That’ll help in Tampa, since Sami Salo won’t return to the team’s top power-play unit.

Also part of the deal: Tampa gets the rights to forward Jeff Costello and a seventh-round pick at the 2015 NHL draft, and Vancouver gets the 50th overall pick in 2014.

At even strength, largely against second-line competition, Vancouver took less than 50 percent of all shot attempts with Garrison on the ice, which was worse than their overall percentage. That’s the first such occurrence for Garrison since 2010-11 with the Panthers.

On the other side, the Canucks cleared cap space, putting them a little more than $20 million under the projected limit. Garrison isn’t a bad player — but he’s as good as he’ll get, coming off a bad season and generally doesn’t profile as someone who will help in a rebuild, which they certainly seem to have entered.

Now they’ll have that money to spend on someone who can help … unless they waste in free agency this season, which is certainly possible.

SMITH, RAANTA STICKING WITH BLACKHAWKS

Forward Ben Smith and backup goalie Antti Raanta have agreed to two-year contract extensions with the Chicago Blackhawks through the 2015-16 season.

The deals announced Friday keep both players from becoming restricted free agents on Tuesday.

The 25-year-old Smith had 14 goals and 12 assists in 75 games in his first full season. He added four goals and two assists in the playoffs, where the Blackhawks lost to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Los Angeles Kings in the Western Conference finals.

Raanta, also 25, was 13-5-4 record with a 2.71 goals-against average and a .897 save percentage in 25 appearances. He will likely back up Corey Crawford again next season.

Contributors: Sean Gentille, The Associated Press