The Flyers waste little time in getting their summer going when the news dropped. The three-way trade of much maligned defensemen Ivan Provorov sent shock waves through the NHL on Tuesday.
For General Manager Danny Briere, however, it’s a sign of the times.
“”We’re open for business. We’ll listen if it makes sense, if the value is there for us,” Briere said on the media conference call.
The return in this trade is significant for Philadelphia. Maybe not much in the short term, but the 2023 first round pick (22nd overall), two second round picks, and promising right-shot defensemen in Helge Grans will help kick-start the Flyers rebuild. The deal proves that Briere is willing to make a bold trade and has the creativity to pull such a move off. The fact that there seems to be one, singular vision from Dan Hilferty on down is a great sign. That’s a far cry from the previous two regimes that were making day to day decisions for this team in prior years.
Additionally, there’s likely to be more movement like this on the way. How will the Kevin Hayes situation be resolved? Will another blockbuster be made, potentially involving Carter Hart? The team is set up for an exciting summer, one that’ll see them the centerpiece of much trade speculation.
As for the roster itself, the Flyers have no one to replicate the minutes Provorov absorbed on a nightly basis. The trade does, however, allow Cam York to slide back over to his natural side, which should help him. The rest of the left-side of the defense will be rounded out by Travis Sanheim, Nick Seeler, and Igor Zamula.
We’ll continue to monitor and analyze all the Flyers off-season moves right here.
