The Ducks traded defenseman Cam Fowler to the St. Louis Blues, ending the second-longest tenure in franchise history.

In exchange for Fowler and a 2027 fourth-round draft pick, the Ducks received a 2027 second-rounder and prospect defenseman Jérémie Biakabutuka.

Fowler, 33, played all his 991 career games with the Ducks, entering the league at age 18 after being the 12th overall selection in the 2010 draft. Fowler’s time with the Ducks over parts of 15 seasons included two trips to the conference finals (2015, 2017.

Fowler made his Blues debut in Dallas against the Stars on Saturday night.

“I know it’s been a crazy day, but, at the end of the day, I’m most comfortable when I’m on the ice,” Fowler said. “It’s going to be a new challenge for me with a new team, but, at the end of the day, that’s my job.”

Not far down the line after his Blues debut and home debut, will be career game No. 1,000 for the Ducks’ all-time leader in points, goals and assists by a defenseman. As it stands, that projects to be this year’s Winter Classic at Wrigley Field.

Less enthusing was the prospect of being separated from his young family.

“There’s a lot of adrenaline in me right now,” Fowler said. “I think that’s going to get me through these next couple days. Then, I’m sure when I’m in St. Louis on Monday and the dust kind of settles and I’m there without my family, that’s probably going to be a pretty hard moment.”

The Ducks had been machinating to find a new home for Fowler in recent months, and managed to upgrade a draft pick in the process. The deal cost them 38.5% retention of Fowler’s remaining salary. He carries a cap hit of $6.5 million this season and next.

While they freed up ice time for their defensemen of the future — Pavel Mintyukov, Jackson LaCombe and Olen Zellweger figure to benefit — they lost a fixture in Orange County and a player who grew the game with his C4Kids program.

“Today was a difficult day, it was a difficult trade to make, especially with a person of Cam’s stature and his tenure with our organization,” Ducks GM Pat Verbeek said. “It’s becoming increasingly rare that a player spends this long with an organization.”

“This whole process started in the summertime with Cam, his agent Pat Brisson and I. We had open discussions about Cam’s future with the hockey club,” Verbeek continued. “As opportunities arose, I would take that to Cam. It was a real open dialogue and a real open situation for us and Cam, and (it was) transparent.”

Biakabutuka, 22, has bounced between levels of the minors as a 6-foot-4-inch defenseman is described as a mobile rearguard.