On Thursday, January 20th the Philadelphia Flyers suffered a 3-0 loss to the New York Islanders. What overshadowed the loss was the rumors of a trade possibly being in the works between the Flyers and the Calgary Flames as both teams played games.
Once these matchups ended a deal was struck between Flyers GM Danny Briere and Flames general manager Craig Conroy. The trade was made official at 12:40 AM on early Friday morning.
As reported by Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli, the Flyers dealt former first round picks Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost for Andrei Kuzmenko, Jakob Pelletier, a 2025 2nd round pick and a 2028 7th round pick.
On the surface level there’s a lot to unpack when analyzing this trade from a Flyers perspective.
Philadelphia traded two established NHL regulars in Farabee and Frost and there’s no denying that both put forth respectable production with recent seasons of 50 points (for Farabee) and 41 points (for Frost).
Nevertheless, the two have struggled to be contributors consistently during their tenures with the Flyers. For every hot streak Frost and Farabee put together while members of the team there was typically a cold streak to follow. To put it simply, Farabee and Frost’s development appeared to have stagnated in their final few seasons with Philadelphia.
Due to the inconsistencies, and overall stagnation the Flyers front office staff made the decision to move on from both players.
There is a risk Farabee and Frost become more consistent contributors as they find new roles on a new team. But even if that’s the case it’s quite evident that cap space and overall roster flexibility may have been just as important an aspect of this deal as acquiring Kuzmenko, Pelletier and the draft picks involved.
Essentially, by trading Joel Farabee and Morgan Frost the Flyers have likely created almost $9 million dollars of cap space for themselves to add to their budget this upcoming off season. If you safely estimate that Frost’s next contract might be worth around $4 million dollars average annual value, and Farabee’s cap hit is currently $5 million dollars.
According to Puck Pedia, the Flyers are now projected to have $25.245 million dollars in cap space heading into this upcoming off-season. That could even rise to roughly $31.5 million dollars if defenseman Ryan Ellis is placed on long term injured reserve.
Removing both Farabee and Frost not only provides opportunities for younger players on the team and other prospects to grab roles, it allows Philadelphia to target players that specifically fit the roster they’re trying to construct moving ahead and the style of play the coaching staff wants to execute.
What did the Flyers get in return?
Aside from the cap space created by removing Joel Farabee’s contract and not having to re-sign Morgan Frost, Philadelphia did acquire two interesting pieces in Kuzmenko and Pelletier.
Despite Kuzmenko being on an expiring deal, this may be a tryout of sorts to see if he can fit with the Flyers and if there’s chemistry with his former teammate in the KHL Matvei Michkov.
Say what you will about Kuzmenko’s recent decline but he’s only a few seasons removed from a 39 goal season.
Is there any guarantee he replicates that with Philadelphia, no. However, you have to look at the fact that Frost’s career high in goals is 19, while Farabee’s is 22.
Considering Kuzmenko outscored them significantly when you compare career highs in goals, assists and points between the three forwards, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Kuzmenko provides more offensive production than both would have for the Flyers.
Additionally, by acquiring Kuzmenko you make Michkov feel more comfortable bringing in a former teammate who’s Russian.
The other piece to this deal Jakob Pelletier is an interesting addition for the Flyers as well. He has good hockey sense, a strong shot and is a tenacious forechecker. With the way he’s produced at the AHL level it seems as though he might be poised for a breakout in the NHL soon, if the Flyers provide him the ice time and opportunity to do so.
Unlike Kuzmenko who is a UFA, Pelletier will be under team control once the season ends due to his current RFA status. I would imagine Pelletier is re-signed as he wouldn’t be commanding any substantial cap hit.
Kuzmenko on the other hand is a wild card, his on ice play, production and how he meshes with head coach John Tortorella could dictate if the Flyers choose to re-sign him or not.
It should be interesting to see where both Kuzmenko and Pelletier slot into the Flyers lineup once they take on the Colorado Avalanche this Sunday afternoon. Kuzmenko might find himself playing with his former SKA St.Petersburg linemate Matvei Michkov. As for Pelletier, his place in the lineup could be elevated due to the injuries to Ryan Poehling and Owen Tippett.
Another important asset the Flyers picked up in this trade was Calgary’s 2025 2nd round pick. Securing that extra draft pick now gives the Flyers seven draft picks in the first two rounds of the 2025 NHL Draft.
What that does is further strengthen an already well established pool of draft capital that Danny Briere could potentially use to move up in the draft or in a trade for available roster players.
The added salary cap and roster flexibility from removing Farabee and Frost could point to Philadelphia becoming more active in the trade market or even free agency this upcoming off-season.
Final Thoughts
After this trade the Danny Briere led front office has effectively removed Joel Farabee, Morgan Frost, Ivan Provorov, Kevin Hayes, Sean Walker, Tony DeAngelo and Cam Atkinson from the Flyers roster since his tenure began.
What this signifies is an inflection point for the Philadelphia Flyers moving forward. It appears a variety of talent evaluation has been completed which led to trades and buyouts of certain players throughout Briere’s time as general manager.
With the trade deadline on the horizon we’ll see if Philadelphia attempts to accrue more assets that could be used to make additions down the line at the draft or this off-season.
Briere and the Flyers may be at the point in their rebuild where they start to add pieces to the roster instead of solely subtracting.
Check out our Flyers Nitty Gritty Store
