The Vantaa, Finland, native has scored six goals, earned 15 assists and accumulated 75 penalty minutes in 60 games with Chicago this season.
Ruutu has scored 48 goals, earned 66 assists and totaled 259 penalty minutes in 228 career NHL regular-season games with the Blackhawks.
Ladd, 23, was Carolina's first-round pick (4th overall) in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
"Andrew Ladd is a very good young forward who won a Stanley Cup with Carolina as a 20-year old," said Blackhawks GM Dale Tallon. "We acquired a very good young player in Andrew Ladd and in doing so had to give up a good young player in Tuomo Ruutu."
Ladd has appeared in 43 games for the Hurricanes this season scoring nine goals to go along with nine assists for 18 points with 31 penalty minutes. In his NHL career, Ladd has played in 137 games scoring 26 goals while adding 24 assists for 50 points with 81 penalty minutes.
