Sergei Bobrovsky traded to Columbus for three picks, says report

PITTSBURGH -- It looks as though Sergei Bobrovsky has played his last game as a Philadelphia Flyer. TSN's Darren Dreger reports this noon that Bob looks to be headed to the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for draft picks. The Columbus Dispatch reports that it's the No. 45 pick this weekend plus a fourth rounder this year and Phoenix's fourth rounder next year.

We all kind of saw this coming, didn't we? As we wrote earlier this month, Bobrovsky has a bright future but he's never going to get a chance to start in Philadelphia with Ilya Bryzgalov locked up for nine years. If you're a Bob fan (and many of us are), that's disheartening, but he deserves the chance to spread his wings in the NHL. Going to Columbus gives him that chance -- and hopefully that franchise doesn't kill his career.

This is a good move for the Flyers. They'll sign a UFA backup on July 1 and they're getting something of value in return for a goaltender who really has little to no value to them at this point. Three draft picks is more than I personally expected, for sure. Could this be another fleecing of Howson's poor, poor franchise?

Who knows what this means for the rest of the day? It could open up the trade flood gates, but for now, I like the deal.