It isn’t the move we expected to see (and it won’t be the last) but the Philadelphia Flyers have made a trade before the NHL trade deadline.
According to The Athletic’s Pierre Lebrun, the Flyers are acquiring winger Brendan Lemieux and a 2024 fifth-round pick from the Los Angeles Kings for Zack MacEwen.
And Flyers also get a 5thRD pick in ’24 https://t.co/7568Iy8Ay3
— Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) March 3, 2023
Lemieux, 26, is a gritty fourth-line winger that annoys a whole lot of opposing players and is a pending unrestricted free agent with his one-year, $1.35-million contract expiring after this season, so there are no strings attached for this move. Going to Los Angeles is a player of the same age, but is going to be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights after this season and is slightly cheaper with a $925,000 cap hit.
Essentially, the Flyers are getting a draft pick for a swap of very similar players.
MacEwen was claimed off waivers by the Flyers back in Oct. 2021 and has played 121 games for Philadelphia since then. In those games, he has scored seven goals and 18 points while racking up 164 penalty minutes.
Chuck Fletcher is certainly not done for the day, as we will most likely see James van Riemsdyk get shipped out to a Stanley Cup contender in the next few hours, and some dark horses like Justin Braun, Kevin Hayes, and Nick Seleer potentially dealt.
Keep up to date with everything going on with the Flyers at the trade deadline with our rumor roundup.
