Photo Courtesy of, Eric Hartline, USA TODAY Sports
With the off-season not even officially underway yet, the Philadelphia Flyers have traded 26 year old defenseman Ivan Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a three way deal. Daniel Briere and the Flyers new management staff have made a significant trade. Signaling the beginning of a new era for the Philadelphia Flyers with this Provorov transaction. The full details of the trade are listed below:
To Flyers:Â
2023, 22nd overall pick (LAK)
2024 2nd Rd Pick (LAK) 
2nd Rd Pick in 2024 or 2025 (CBJ),
Cal Petersen
Sean Walker
Helge Grans
To Jackets:Â
Ivan Provorov
To Kings:Â Â
30% retained on Provorov
Kevin Connauton
Hayden Hodgson
When assessing the trade it’s certainly refreshing for the Flyers to receive more than fair value in return for Provorov. Especially considering the fact the defenseman has had three consecutive underwhelming seasons in comparison to prior seasons with the Flyers. Briere with his first trade managed to channel creativity former Flyers GM Chuck Fletcher was lacking during his tenure.
The ability to have the LA Kings involved in the trade raised the Flyers return value. Thus allowing the franchise to receive picks and prospects for taking on salary in the form of Sean Walker and Cal Petersen from LA. Such out of the box thinking to increase the return for Provorov is encouraging to see from Briere with his first trade. Looking at the prior trades made by the Chuck Fletcher front office it appears they lacked this type of aggressiveness that is present within Briere.
It should be noted that despite the decline in play these last few seasons Provorov was tasked with a heavy defensive workload. While playing on an offensively starved Flyers team. I’d imagine a change of scenery will do the defenseman good and it would not be surprising to him regain his prior form as a Blue Jacket.
In the short term the Flyers traded the best player in this deal to a division rival. As a result, they have technically become a worse team today. However, that is not the point of the trade from the Flyers perspective.
This trade clearly outlines the organization’s viewpoint on how they need to approach rebuilding this roster. The Flyers are focused on the future. Trading a 26 year old defenseman entering his prime playing years only proves that. Gaining 4 valuable assets, 3 being high draft picks and 1 being a B level prospect with an interesting skill set is great value for a defenseman in Provorov not coming off his best seasons.
Another facet to this trade has to do with the newly acquired draft capital the Flyers received. It should be fascinating to see if they decide to use these assets to move up in the draft potentially.
Gettin Gritty Wit It
We’re back for episode 165 of the podcast. On this week’s episode we broke down the Ivan Provorov trade and a ton more. Here are some further topics we discussed:
-Hart Trade?
-Who else could move?
-Fedotov finishing up his Military Service. Can he come back?
-Zanetti signed in the Swiss League
-Foerster named to the AHL Top Prospects team
-Congrats to Simon Gagne and Quebec Ramparts are champions
-Playoff Talk
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