Philadelphia Trades Wade Allison To Nashville For Denis Gurianov

The Philadelphia Flyers have sent depth forward Wade Allison to the Nashville Predators for winger Denis Gurianov, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. Allison’s move was first reported by The Fourth Period’s Anthony Di Marco.

Allison has spent the entirety of the season in the AHL, scoring a measly 10 goals and 17 points in 46 games – matching his scoring in 28 AHL games last season. He’s lost his grip on the NHL role he earned last season, when he played in 60 games and scored 15 points while averaging a commendable 13 minutes of ice time. Last year marked Allison’s first full-time NHL role, though he had played 15 games between the 2020-21 and 2021-22 seasons as well. In total, he’s managed 75 career NHL games, with 13 goals, 22 points, and 40 penalty minutes. The 26-year-old winger hasn’t quite found his groove in the pros since making his debut in 2020-21 and was likely due for a change of scenery. He’ll now move to Nashville, who has focused on bringing in depth forwards this Trade Deadline – also acquiring Jason Zucker and Anthony Beauvillier via trade, and Jaret Anderson-Dolan off of waivers.

Gurianov will move to his fourth team in the last three seasons, moving from Dallas to Montreal last season, and signing a one-year, $850K contract with the Predators last summer. He started the season in the minor leagues, scoring 30 points in 27 games with the Milwaukee Admirals, before getting called up in early January. He’s since managed just two points, split evenly, in 14 games with the Predators. The performance has brought his career totals up to 113 points across 294 games, though much of that scoring came during a three-season stretch from 2019 to 2022, when Gurianov scored 29, 30, and 31 points respectively while serving in Dallas’ top-nine. He was traded to Montreal in the subsequent 2022-23 season in a one-for-one swap with Evgenii Dadonov, and has struggled to regain his scoring touch since.

Moving Gurianov not only nets Nashville a depth forward with potential in Allison – it also gives the team much more flexibility to deploy their newest additions, with Allison not likely to rival an immediate NHL role. Gurianov was averaging over 12 minutes of ice time with Nashville, rotating between the team’s second and third lines. His role will now likely move to Zucker, who has a much more commendable nine goals and 25 points this season, and is coming off a 27-goal, 48-point performance last year. Added lineup flexibility could be enough to bring Zucker back to his high-scoring ways, or offer a chance for Beauvillier to once again become comfortable in a contending lineup.