Flyers, Kraken Swap Jon-Randall Avon, Tucker Robertson
The Flyers acquired forward Tucker Robertson from the Kraken for forward Jon-Randall Avon, the teams announced. The pair of prospects will now report to their new teams’ training camp in a couple of weeks.
It amounts to a swap of lower-tier prospects who haven’t quite panned out as their clubs hoped. They’re both entering their age-22 seasons, born just a handful of days apart in the summer of 2003.
It’s particularly unsurprising to see the Kraken move on from Robertson. He was a fourth-round pick in 2022 after going undrafted in 2021, a season he missed entirely due to the pandemic. But despite producing over a point per game for the OHL’s Peterborough Petes in 2021-22 and 2022-23, he hasn’t been able to find any sustained offensive success in the pros.
Robertson never graded out as a top-10 or even top-15 prospect in Seattle’s system. He split his first pro season in 2023-24 between AHL Coachella Valley and ECHL Kansas City but found himself on the AHL roster full-time in 2024-25. Unfortunately, that didn’t come with much playing time. He only got into around half of Coachella Valley’s games, recording a 4-5–9 scoring line in 38 games. The 5’10”, 190-lb center now has 10 goals and 19 points in 77 career AHL games over the last two years.
Avon, whom the Flyers signed as an undrafted free agent in 2021, has seen moderately more offensive success. He was teammates with Robertson in junior hockey with Peterborough and made the jump to the pros at the same time. The stepson of former Blackhawks star Steve Larmer has stuck around as a depth piece with Philly’s AHL affiliate in Lehigh Valley for the last two years, putting together a 16-19–35 scoring line with a -22 rating in 125 games. He’s taller but lankier than Robertson at 6’0″ and 174 lbs.
Since Avon’s ELC slid twice before going into effect, both he and Robertson are entering the final seasons of their contracts. They’ll be restricted free agents next summer with neither being eligible for arbitration.
Kraken Sign Tucker Robertson To Entry-Level Deal
The Kraken have agreed to terms with one of their prospects as CapFriendly reports (Twitter link) that they have signed Tucker Robertson to a three-year, entry-level contract. The deal carries a cap hit of $870K and an AAV of $950K and breaks down as follows:
2023-24: $775K salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K GP bonus, $80K AHL salary
2024-25: $775K salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K GP bonus, $80K AHL salary
2025-26: $775K salary, $95K signing bonus, $80K GP bonus, $82.5K AHL salary
The 20-year-old was a fourth-round selection by Seattle back in 2022 (123rd overall) after going undrafted in his first year of eligibility. That came on the hands of an impressive 2021-22 campaign. After having a limited role in his rookie season, Robertson broke out with 41 goals and 40 assists that year, cracking the top 20 in scoring.
That was followed up by an even better showing in 2022-23 as Robertson picked up 36 goals and 54 assists in 68 games, good for a tie for 11th in league scoring. He then finished second on the Petes in scoring in the playoffs, helping lead them to a league title and a spot in the Memorial Cup.
Robertson technically could return to the OHL next season for his overage year but after the two years he just had, that seems extremely unlikely. Instead, he’ll get his feet wet in the pros and will likely suit up with AHL Coachella Valley in the fall.