Blockbuster minor league swaps... aw yeah.

TSN's Gord Miller just reported that Detroit traded Griffins' forward Kris Newbury to the New York Rangers for Jordan Owens, per Darren Dreger's Twitter.

Wings fans should remember Newbury... who had a few game stint with the team earlier in the year, taking a penalty on his first shift, scoring on his second shift, and taking another penalty on his third shift. Griffins fans should be thrilled because Newbury takes awful penalties and he's a menace with the puck -- I was never too impressed by his game, considering they always put him on a scoring line. To his credit, he's tough to play against, but it's not very often he draws a penalty without retaliating.

And Owens... yeah, I got nothing. He was a good scorer in the OHL before turning pro, but so far hasn't done anything in the AHL. The only scouting report I can find is he's a good skater that works hard.

The reasoning behind this deal is simple: AHL veteran limit. AHL teams can only carry a set amount of veteran players (based on AHL games played) on their roster. Grand Rapids has been close to the limit for some time, and now they've added Brad May. Also, former captain Ryan Oulahen was finally waived this week and appears close to finally returning after a ridiculously gruesome hip injury that kept him out of the lineup for 11 months. Those two players will definitely put Grand Rapids over their veteran limit. Owens hasn't played that number of games yet.

See ya, Kris. We hardly knew ya.

LATER IN THE DAY UPDATE: Just cruising around and I noticed that Owens is also under contract for next season, per CapGeek. It probably doesn't mean anything, but it does mean Detroit has to like him at least somewhat if they're already going to guarantee him a spot for next year. Whether they just like him for AHL depth or think he has some upside remains to be seen.