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Philadelphia Flyers Acquire Brendan Lemieux

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The Philadelphia Flyers and Los Angeles Kings have made a trade ahead of the deadline, swapping Zack MacEwen and Brendan Lemieux. The Flyers are also receiving a 2024 fifth-round pick.

In a move that doesn’t really move the needle for either club, the Kings clear $425K in cap space and add a big, physical fourth-line option in MacEwen. The 6’3″ forward has racked up 233 penalty minutes in his 176-game NHL career, willing to drop the gloves with any opponent.

MacEwen, 26, has matched a career-high with nine points this season through 46 games, but won’t be asked to score much for the Kings. He may not even play every night, as he enters a much more talented group that is headed for the playoffs.

The Flyers are adding a player in Lemieux that isn’t all that different—low scoring, high penalty minutes, fourth-line grinder—and might not even be with the organization very long. The 26-year-old is on a one-year, $1.35MM contract, leaving him an unrestricted free agent in the summer.

Lemieux’s offensive game never did materialize in the NHL. He hasn’t scored a single goal this season, and has just 63 points in his 257-game career. Still, perhaps he’ll find a home in the Philadelphia bottom six if he can impress head coach John Tortorella down the stretch.

More than anything, this is eating some cap space for a fifth-round pick. The Flyers need to change the trajectory of their team, and draft capital is one way to accomplish that.

Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic broke the news on Twitter. 

Flyers Notes: Van Riemsdyk, Couturier, Hayes, Injuries

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Winger James van Riemsdyk is one of the more prominent names left on the board heading into the trade deadline.  However, with a cap hit of $7MM, not many teams can get involved in the bidding, at least without the possibility of double retention.  To that end, Chris Johnston of NorthStar Bets and TSN reports (Twitter link) that the current asking price for the 33-year-old is a third-round pick.

Johnston adds that the Golden Knights, Jets, and Kraken are among the teams that have inquired about van Riemsdyk so far.  Notably, none of those teams have enough cap space to take on his contract outright while Vegas would need either a third team to get involved to be able to add him.  The veteran has nine goals and 14 assists in 41 games this season and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

More from Philadelphia:

  • Center Sean Couturier skated before practice today as he works his way back from his back injury, relays Olivia Reiner of the Philadelphia Inquirer (Twitter link). The veteran has yet to play this season but GM Chuck Fletcher acknowledged last month that there was a possibility Couturier could return before the end of the season.  At this point, the goal of a return would simply be to try to remove any questions about the possibility of the injury lingering into 2023-24.
  • The Flyers are open to offers for center Kevin Hayes, reports Sam Carchidi of Philly Hockey Now. The veteran is having a nice season with 17 goals and 32 assists in 61 games which would be appealing to many buyers.  However, his cap hit of $7.143MM through 2025-26 will make the 30-year-old difficult to move without considerable salary retention.  A trade involving Hayes is likely easier to make in the summer when other teams will be more willing to move a roster player back to help match salary.
  • Philadelphia has activated wingers Zack MacEwen and Tanner Laczynski from IR, notes Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic (Twitter link).  MacEwen has missed more than a month after undergoing surgery on his fractured jaw while Laczynski has missed the last three months with a lower-body injury.  If the Flyers wind up moving out some forwards today, MacEwen and Laczynski should be their replacements in the lineup, meaning no recalls would be needed from AHL Lehigh Valley.

Vegas Golden Knights, Winnipeg Jets Showing Interest In James van Riemsdyk

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According to TSN’s Chris Johnston, the Philadelphia Flyers intend to move pending unrestricted free agent James van Riemsdyk. On today’s TSN Insider Trading, Johnston reported that two interested teams appear to be the Vegas Golden Knights and the Winnipeg Jets. Vegas GM Kelly McCrimmon has been busy the last few days, swinging a trade today for goaltender Jonathan Quick and yesterday acquiring center Teddy Blueger. Cap space could be an issue as Vegas has just $3MM left and van Riemsdyk is currently playing under a $7MM cap hit. Winnipeg, on the other hand, have been very quiet since acquiring winger Nino Niederreiter from the Nashville Predators. Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff has over $4.5MM in cap space for the deadline, so he could easily fit van Riemsdyk under budget, should the Flyers be willing to retain 50% to facilitate a move.

Some other notes from across the NHL:

  • The Nashville Predators have been one of the busier sellers in recent days, having shipped out Mattias Ekholm, Mikael Granlund, and Tanner Jeannot with an eye toward building for the future. With all the pieces moving out, the Predators have begun the process of calling up some of their younger players. Luke Evangelista received the first call-up of his career earlier this week, and now Nashville has announced that John Leonard has been recalled to the big club. Leonard,24, is a former 2018 sixth-round pick who is currently tied for third in scoring on Milwaukee this season with 32 points. Leonard does have NHL experience on his resume, having dressed in 58 games with the San Jose Sharks, where he tallied 15 points.
  • Brad Marchand left tonight’s Boston Bruins contest against the Buffalo Sabres with an apparent lower-body injury. Marchand was hit awkwardly into the boards from behind and the Bruins announced that he would not return. Losing Marchand for any length of time would be a big blow to a Bruins team that has Stanley Cup aspirations. Marchand is having another fine season with 53 points in 52 games and has heated up recently after going pointless in five straight games. Boston is nearly a lock to win the President’s Trophy, so they likely won’t rush Marchand back, but should his injury keep him out long-term, it could become problematic.
  • NHL.com’s Dan Rosen has reported that New York Rangers forward Tyler Motte would not be returning to tonight’s game against the Ottawa Senators. Motte was just dealt by the Senators to the Rangers on February 19th and was injured after taking a headshot from former teammate Austin Watson. Watson was assessed a five-minute major for charging and a game misconduct. Motte was beginning his second run with the Rangers after being dealt there last trade deadline from Vancouver. He has dealt with concussion issues in the past, having missed 31 games in 2020-21 while with the Canucks. Hopefully, Motte can make a speedy recovery after the very scary injury tonight.

Philadelphia Flyers Taking Calls On Ivan Provorov

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The market for defensemen has gotten spicy over the last few days, with Mattias Ekholm, Vladislav Gavrikov, Jake McCabe, Dmitry Orlov, and others all on the move. The Philadelphia Flyers might be the next to jump into the deadline dealing.

Darren Dreger of TSN reports that the Flyers are taking calls on Ivan Provorov, noting how it will still take a significant package to pry him out of Philadelphia.

It shouldn’t surprise anyone that Provorov is available. There have been rumors for quite some time that a split might be necessary between the Flyers and their top defenseman, as Provorov’s progression hasn’t gone according to plan.

Once considered among the best up-and-coming defensemen in the league, Provorov had 17 goals and 41 points in his sophomore season and even got some down-ballot Norris Trophy votes two years later. In 2019, he turned that production into a six-year, $40.5MM contract with the Flyers, jumping to a $6.75MM cap hit directly out of his entry-level contract.

Since then, though, things haven’t really improved. Philadelphia has slowly become a worse team, they have struggled to find a good match to play with Provorov, and his effectiveness has waned. Through 61 games this season, he has just four goals and 22 points, totals that would be career lows should they finish that way. He’s still playing more than any other Flyer, averaging more than 23 minutes a night, but the fit hasn’t seemed right for some time.

With the new leadership of John Tortorella clearly looking to put a stamp on the roster, changes are coming in Philadelphia. James van Riemsdyk will likely be traded before the deadline, and questions have been asked about every other veteran on the club.

With two years left on his current deal, Provorov would represent a huge swing by a contending team—one with high risk and high reward. If a fresh start rejuvenates the 26-year-old defenseman, they could add a true difference-maker to anchor a top pairing and play in all situations. If he takes another step backward, they would be giving up significant assets and cap space for underwhelming performance.

Fletcher: Not Doing Scorched-Earth Rebuild, Focus Is On Rentals, Konecny Might Not Return This Season

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Speaking with reporters today (video link), Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher discussed his plans for the upcoming trade deadline.  Unsurprisingly, the team plans to sell and he acknowledged that the bulk of the discussions so far have been regarding players on expiring contracts, particularly winger James van Riemsdyk.  However, he made a point to say that he doesn’t intend for the team to go into a scorched-earth rebuild which suggests that Philadelphia’s deadline activity could be somewhat limited if they primarily deal with moving players on expiring contracts.  Fletcher also mentioned that they don’t plan to add too many players from Lehigh Valley to allow them to continue to battle for a spot in the AHL playoffs.

  • Also from Fletcher’s press conference, he indicated that winger Travis Konecny is going to miss at least a few more weeks due to his upper-body injury. With the Flyers not heading for the playoffs, the GM indicated that it’s possible that there isn’t enough time for him to return this season.  The 25-year-old is seven points shy of matching his career-high of 61 but at this point, it doesn’t seem likely that Konecny will be able to get there.

Travis Konecny Out An "Extended" Period Of Time

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It’s been a week since Travis Konecny went down to an upper-body injury, and the Philadelphia Flyers still haven’t released an official timeline for his return. Today, head coach John Tortorella gave reports at least a bit of an update, explaining to Charlie O’Connor of The Athletic that Konecny would be out for an extended period.

As much as Tortorella and the rest of the Flyers don’t want to admit it, removing Konecny from the lineup may actually be a good thing. The 25-year-old is the team’s best offensive (and perhaps all-around) player, with 27 goals and 54 points in 52 games this season. His absence has been evident over the last few games, including a 5-2 loss to the bottom-dwelling Montreal Canadiens and a 7-0 thrashing at the hands of the rival New Jersey Devils. As the Flyers drop toward the bottom of the standings, they rise closer to the top of the draft lottery odds.

Flyers Recall Desnoyers

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Nashville Predators Acquire Isaac Ratcliffe

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The Nashville Predators aren’t just selling at the deadline. Last night they made a smaller deal to acquire Isaac Ratcliffe from the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for future considerations. The move gives the former top prospect a new home, and perhaps a fresh start as he continues to struggle at the professional level.

Selected 35th overall in 2017, Ratcliffe was a force to be reckoned with for the Guelph Storm of the OHL. The 6’6″ winger could lean on smaller junior players and bully his way to the net, resulting in massive point totals and sky-high expectations. In his final year with Guelph he scored 50 goals in 65 regular season games, while adding 105 penalty minutes. He seemed like the perfect Flyers prospect.

Unfortunately, that performance never carried over to the AHL. Ratcliffe scored just 15 points as a rookie in 2019-20, and was limited by injuries the following year. His best performance so far was in 2021-22 when he had 11 goals and 28 points for Lehigh Valley, while also making his NHL debut. Through 10 games with the Flyers, he had four points—not bad for a young player still finding his way, and encouraging enough to earn a new one-year deal with the club.

This year has been a disaster though, with just two goals and four points in 26 minor league contests. Given his age and performance so far, Ratcliffe was a real candidate to go unqualified in the offseason. He’ll get a chance to catch on in Nashville before that happens, though his future as an NHL player is still completely unclear.

Flyers Receiving Interest In James Van Riemsdyk

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As more trade targets come off the board, others now are shifting to the forefront.  That appears to be the case for Flyers winger James van Riemsdyk as TSN’s Darren Dreger reports (Twitter link) that there are now several teams showing interest in the veteran.  Michael Russo of The Athletic adds (Twitter link) that the Wild are among those teams.

The 33-year-old has been a quality scorer throughout his career, averaging 26.5 goals per 82 games.  Notably, van Riemsdyk has been a strong producer on the power play, potting 21 goals with the man advantage since the 2020-21 campaign.  This would certainly be appealing to playoff-bound teams who could use him in a middle-six role at even strength while deploying him in a more prominent spot on the power play.

Despite his track record, van Riemsdyk is in the middle of a bit of a down season as he has just nine goals and 14 assists in 40 games while also missing 20 contests due to a hand injury.  He also carries a sizable price tag with a $7MM AAV in the final season of a five-year, $35MM pact signed back in 2018.  Notably, that deal does not carry any form of trade protection.

Philadelphia has all three of its salary retention slots remaining so it seems quite likely that they’ll retain up to the maximum of 50% ($3.5MM) to help facilitate a move and help secure a better return.  It’s unlikely that van Riemsdyk will command a first-round pick in return even with a strong market but the Flyers will have a chance to add at least a decent piece for the future by flipping him elsewhere in the coming days.

Flyers Recall Elliot Desnoyers

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The Flyers are giving one of their more promising prospects his first taste of NHL action as the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Elliot Desnoyers from Lehigh Valley of the AHL.  He will make his NHL debut tonight against New Jersey.

The 21-year-old was a fifth-round pick by Philadelphia back in 2020 (135th overall) but has certainly outperformed his draft stock since then.  He became an impact scorer at the major junior level after being drafted, recording 137 points in 108 games with Halifax of the QMJHL after being selected which helped him earn a spot on Canada’s entry into the World Juniors last summer.

This season, Desnoyers has made the adjustment to playing in the pros and has done quite well, leading the Phantoms in scoring with 19 goals and 17 assists in 48 games.  He’ll now get a chance to see if that scoring touch can translate to the NHL level.

To make room for Desnoyers on the roster, the Flyers placed winger Travis Konecny on injured reserve.  He suffered an upper-body injury on Monday against Calgary and there’s no timeline for how long he’ll be out.

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