The Philadelphia Flyers, LA Kings, and Columbus Blue Jackets kicked off the summer with a three way trade that had a lot of layers. Let’s start with the headline: Ivan Provorov is moving from the Flyers to the Blue Jackets for a 1st, 2nd, and a prospect, while the Kings shed some salary and a depth defender (both to the Flyers, as well).
TRADE (3-way)
Philadelphia #LetsGoFlyers
G Cal Petersen
D Sean Walker
D Helge Grans
23 1st RD pick (LAK #22)
24 2nd RD pick (LAK)
24 2nd RD pick (CBJ **)Columbus #CBJ
D Ivan Provorov (30% RS by LAK)LA #GoKingsGo
F Kevin Connauton
F Hayden Hodgsonhttps://t.co/Xw2cB8L8SN— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) June 6, 2023
Right away it should be obvious for the Flyers that rookie GM Danny Briere came away with a massive win. He traded Ivan Provorov, who didn’t live up to the hype and his poor performance in big minutes were the main reason for the team’s struggles. From the results, the Flyers ridding themselves of Provorov and his contract with two years left is a positive first step (the next is replacing him with someone who can actually drive play positively).
Not only did Briere shed salary, he was also given a 2nd round pick to take goalie Cal Petersen and defender Sean Walker. Goalies are massively volatile, so it’s never a bad bet to pick one up who’s had experience before. Petersen was a burden for the Kings only for his salary that they need to sign others, but the Flyers, with or without Provorov, can afford him.
And for the Blue Jackets, they received Provorov at a 30% discount paid by the Kings. Their presumed new coach Mike Babcock probably asked the GM to “get him a defenseman he can trust” and the 6’1″ defender who plays 24 minutes a night fit the bill. Whether he plays those minutes well or not is a different story. As you can see below, Provorov has a net -11% impact at 5v5, and at 26 isn’t expected to improve.
Ivan Provorov (winding up in Columbus after being part of three-way deal) is a weak creator of offence both at 5v5 and on the power-play, kills penalties poorly, and is slightly below average defensively at 5v5. No particular strengths to speak of. pic.twitter.com/5xu85wl07l
— Micah Blake McCurdy (@IneffectiveMath) June 6, 2023
The third team in this trade is the Kings, who created $5.625 million in cap space with this move, all reportedly in the pursuit of keeping Vladislav Gavrikov. On paper the Kings know they lost this deal. They traded serviceable players and a draft pick and took on some deal salary to boot, but they created a significant amount of cap space to add a very important defenseman moving forward.
Nothing like a three way trade to get the hockey world buzzing. GM’s say it’s been a very active week or so and will get busier leading up to the draft. Flat cap seems to be encouraging a more aggressive approach.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) June 6, 2023
Kings hope to re-sign Gavrikov although it’s interesting the pending UFA D represented by Dan Milstein has told LAK he wants a 2-year deal. No doubt Kings would want to go longer with him. https://t.co/Jmd5I22uUg
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) June 6, 2023
In all, LA’s voluntary loss and Columbus’ inadvertent loss has been Philadelphia’s massive gain. Big win for the Flyers in this trade, IMO. Shed some salary that wasn’t making the team better, picked up some low risk bets, and stocked up with several picks and a prospect.
As Darren Dreger says above, this summer is going to see even more moves like what the Kings just did as teams will need to be aggressive in creating cap space with another poor increase to the cap limit. We’ll see more good players not qualified (to avoid arbitration and RFA raises), more buyouts, and more cap dumps. Will the Tampa Bay Lightning be part of it? Will they be aggressive? We’ll see.
Turning page back to the Stanley Cup Final, the Golden Knights are up 2-0 in the series with Game 3 set to be played in Florida on Thursday after another two-day break. Former Panther Jonathan Marchessault is having a dynamite playoffs, which promoted compliments to be sent to Nikita Kucherov.
Nikita Kucherov’s +18 goal differential (+30/-12) in the 2019-20 playoffs is the best we’ve seen in the modern era.
Jonathan Marchessault is in-line to beat it. He’s at +17 (+22/-5) with games in hand.
— Travis Yost (@travisyost) June 6, 2023
I’ll always be impressed with equipment managers. They are working hard every shift for moments that always never come, until they do.
Mary Clarke
An offseason check-in with Steven Stamkos.
Steven Stamkos is using the long offseason to rest and regroup.
“I’ve been doing a lot of Dad-work around the house, hanging out with my two boys Carter and Chase. It’s been nice to spend some extra time with them for sure.”
✍🏻: @TheHockeyNews #GoBolts https://t.co/41Wn9k9G4a
— Diandra Loux (@Diandra_loux) June 6, 2023
The Devils didn’t get to acquire Timo Meier with a contract extension in place, but they hope to keep the RFA with an extension soon.
LA Kings broadcaster Blake Bolden (former Kings scout, and former player) spoke to Forbes about her journey as a player and her goals in her new career in the NHL.
Erica L. Ayala
