The 2024 NHL Trade Deadline came and went Friday afternoon, and the Flyers now have a clearer picture of how their roster will look in the remaining 18 games until the regular season comes to an end.
It was shaping up to be a quiet day for Philadelphia, which wasn’t particularly surprising given their most attractive trade asset in Sean Walker had been dealt a day prior. But at around 1:30pm – just an hour and half before the deadline closed – there were rumblings the Flyers were beginning to wake up.
Shortly after, they announced two trades, sending Wade Allison to Nashville in exchange for forward Denis Gurianov and another in which they acquired veteran defenseman Erik Johnson for a 2024 fourth-round pick.
It’s possible the Flyers were in a holding pattern awaiting the results of Thursday’s waiver claims, as defensemen Jordan Oesterle and William Lagesson were available for the taking. Alas, both were claimed by Calgary and Anaheim, two teams ahead of the Flyers in the waiver order.
When it was obvious he was done for the day, Briere sat down with the media for the second time in less than 24 hours, providing some insight into the day’s goings-on and motivations for the transactions.
What we learned:
Erik Johnson acquired for depth and experience
It’s no secret the Flyers are decimated on defense. The Walker deal and a growing list of injuries (Rasmus Ristolaien, Jamie Drysdale, and Nick Seeler) made this acquisition a near necessity. That is, of course, unless they were comfortable trotting out Ronnie Attard and Adam Ginning, two recent AHL call-ups, for the foreseeable future. Johnson’s arrival plainly shows they weren’t.
In fact, Ginning was loaned to Lehigh Valley just a few hours later.
On what they’re hoping Johnson can bring, Briere said, “Well, it’s mostly his experience, what he can share with our group. Maybe [he can] bring a little bit of stability back there…and hopefully he can help a group that is on the younger side.”
More on Lycksell later.
Allison gets a much needed change of scenery
Wade Allison hadn’t played a single game in the NHL this season, a disappointing development considering he played 60 games with the Flyers just a season ago. He was waived a day after preseason games ended in October. All 31 teams had a free chance to claim him, but no one did, and he spent the rest of his time with the organization as a member of the Phantoms. Allison’s time in the AHL hadn’t been stellar, either. He’d scored just 17 points in 46 games.
Allison will get a chance at a fresh start in Nashville. The 26-year-old has been plagued with injuries most of his career, hindering his ability to be a mainstay at the NHL level. The emergence of rookies Tyson Foerster and Bobby Brink, along with a so-so training camp from Allison, also played a role according to Briere.
“We had him penciled into our roster at the beginning of the season going into training camp. I still remember my first speech to the players was don’t take anything for granted, that this is not charity. You have to keep pushing the envelope. I think his camp was just okay…For some reason, Wade wasn’t able to get the traction back.”
Allison has always been a polarizing player. He has his supporters, particularly on twitter, and many wanted to see him get another shot with the Flyers. His ride officially ends here though.
Gurianov an “interesting” reclamation project
In exchange for Allison, the Flyers received Russian born left-winger Denis Gurianov, a player that Briere called “interesting” for his 6’3″ frame and exceptional speed. What’s more intriguing, yet less exciting, is Gurianov’s unusual progression, or lack thereof. In his rookie campaign with the Dallas Stars, the former 12th overall pick scored 20 goals and added 9 assists in 64 games. Impressively, he was a major contributor in Dallas’s playoff run that season on their way to the Stanley Cup Finals. Gurianov finished with 9 goals and 8 assists in 27 postseason games.
It’s mostly been a struggle since then though. He’s bounced around a few teams now — Philadelphia will be his fourth stop — and has spent a good chunk of time in the AHL as a member of the Predators. Although he’s been better than a point-per-game contributor with the Milwaukee Admirals, Gurianov has totaled just 2 points in 14 NHL games this season.
The Flyers are hoping he can regain his scoring touch in a new environment. Briere noted they’re thin at left wing, and he will join the team in Tampa, which explains Lycksell’s demotion.
No takers for Ryan Johansen
We wrote yesterday about how Philadelphia would be exploring a trade for newly acquired cap dump, Ryan Johansen. Strangely, Briere didn’t elaborate on why Johansen wouldn’t be considered for a roster spot on John Tortorella’s club.
Unfortunately, it looks like the Flyers will be stuck with him, at least for now. Though, it wasn’t for lack of trying.
“We didn’t have a lot of talks,” Briere said. “Nobody was willing to make the move; we were willing to retain on him too. Unfortunately, it just didn’t pan out.”
Briere didn’t fully close the door on Johansen’s future in the Orange and Black, like he did on Thursday, but he didn’t exactly open it either. The 31-year-old was waived shortly after being acquired. He’ll report to the Phantoms, where the Flyers hope, seemingly mostly for his sake, that he can find his game again.
“Things change fast in hockey. You never know, so hopefully for him he can get it going in Lehigh Valley and we’ll see where that goes. I really don’t know what the next step after this will be for him.”
Scott Laughton stays put
Laughton has been involved in trade rumors for consecutive seasons, but once again was deemed too valuable to move. Keith Jones, in the weeks leading up to the deadline, outright said “it would be an overpay” if they were to part ways with Laughton, so it comes as little shock.
Even though he wasn’t being shopped, Briere said multiple teams were interested, and he was fielding calls on the long tenured center. Nobody was willing to meet their admittedly steep asking price and so a Flyer he remains.
“I did listen. I had a lot of teams interested in him as you can imagine. There’s not a lot of centermen and he’s a good one…I said [to him] teams around the NHL still value you, so I think that’s exciting for him, but [the return was] not good enough for us to a let player like that go that is critical to the development of our locker room.”
Ultimately, management kept their word regarding the philosophy of this year’s deadline. They kept their eyes toward the future in the Walker deal and made a hockey trade in a player-for-player swap to gain a reclamation depth forward. Of course, injuries largely forced their hand on the backend. It’s tough to imagine a scenario where they trade for a defenseman if all of Ristolainen, Drysdale, and Seeler were healthy, so a fourth-round-pick round for much needed help is more than palatable.
Time will tell if Briere pushed the right buttons to keep the Flyers in the playoff race.
Stats via Hockey-Reference and theahl.com
