The Montreal Canadiens acquired forward Alex Newhook from the Colorado Avalanche on Tuesday in exchange for a first- and second-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft and defenseman Gianni Fairbrother.

The Avalanche picked up the 31st and 37th picks in the draft, which begins Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn.

Newhook, 22, recorded 30 points (14 goals, 16 assists) while playing in all 82 games last season with Colorado. The Newfoundland native has totaled 66 points (27 goals, 39 assists) in 159 career games since being selected by the Avalanche with the 16th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Draft.

Fairbrother, 22, sat out all of last season due to a knee injury. The Vancouver, British Columbia, native has yet to make his NHL debut since being selected by the Canadiens in the third round (77th overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft.

–Field Level Media

The Philadelphia Flyers traded forward Kevin Hayes to the St. Louis Blues for a 2024 sixth-round draft pick on Tuesday.

The Flyers will retain 50 percent of Hayes’ salary on the remaining three seasons of his contract, the team announced.

Each team will incur a cap hit of roughly $3.57 million in 2023-24. Hayes signed a seven-year, $50 million extension with Philadelphia in July 2019.

Hayes, 31, tallied 54 points (18 goals 36 assists) in 81 games this past season, his fourth in Philadelphia.

The former first-round pick (No. 24 overall in 2010) has 386 points (155 goals, 231 assists) in 634 career games with the New York Rangers (2014-19), Winnipeg (2019) and Flyers.

The Flyers acquired Hayes from Winnipeg in June 2019.

–Field Level Media

Ottawa Senators general manager Pierre Dorion said Tuesday that head coach D.J. Smith and his entire coaching staff will be back for the 2023-24 season.

The announcement comes two weeks after a change of ownership. New majority owner Michael Andlauer accepted Dorion’s recommendation to bring back Smith, who has not made the playoffs in his four-year tenure in Ottawa.

“In dealing with Michael, he said the general manager runs the hockey operations and he decides the coach and my recommendation was for D.J. and his staff to be back,” Dorion said in Nashville, Tenn., site of Wednesday’s draft.

Dorion also said he’s trying to trade forward Alex DeBrincat ahead of the draft after just one season. DeBrincat, a restricted free agent, hasn’t asked for a trade but has declined to sign a long-term deal with the club.

The Senators acquired DeBrincat from Chicago last July.

DeBrincat tallied 66 points (27 goals, 39 assists) in 82 games for the Sens last season. He has 373 points (187 goals, 186 assists) in 450 career games.

The Senators missed out on the playoffs by six points this past season, going 39-35-8.

Smith is 120-139-32 in four seasons.

–Field Level Media

The Chicago Blackhawks signed newly acquired forward Nick Foligno to a one-year contract worth $4 million on Tuesday.

The signing comes one day after the Blackhawks traded for Foligno in a swap with the Boston Bruins that included centerpiece Taylor Hall.

Foligno was set to be an unrestricted free agent.

Foligno, 35, just completed his 16th season in the NHL, the past two in Boston. The winger has 525 points (215 goals, 310 assists) in 1,081 career games with four teams, including the Columbus Blue Jackets (2012-21). He was selected No. 28 overall by Ottawa in the 2006 draft.

–Field Level Media

The National Hockey League and its players association are coming together to form the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition, with current and former NHL players and women’s professional hockey players working toward equality and inclusion in the sport.

To assist in the coalition’s efforts, the league and the National Hockey League Players Association contributed $1 million.

Chairing the 20-member coalition will be former players Anson Carter and P.K. Subban. The members represent a variety of groups, including people of color and the LGBTQ+ community.

The group is a retooling of the NHL Player Inclusion Committee, formed in 2020 to make recommendations on how to advance the experiences of diverse players. But the new coalition is transitioning from one that just makes recommendations to one that will take action through educational sessions and events.

“Every member of the NHL Player Inclusion Coalition shares a passion to bring diversity and inclusion to the forefront of the hockey community. It has been incredible to work together to amplify the role of players as advisors, ambassadors, and catalysts for real change, which benefits underrepresented groups in the game,” said Carter, who played in 674 NHL games. “As we enter the coalition’s next phase, we are excited to grow our impact by sharing more of our work with fans to invite everyone who loves hockey to join the movement with us.”

–Field Level Media