The Philadelphia Flyers have traded defenseman Ronnie Attard to the Edmonton Oilers for defenseman Ben Gleason, per Flyers General Manager Daniel Brière.
Attard was playing with the AHL’s Lehigh Valley Phantoms, where he appeared in 7 games with the Flyers’ top affiliate this season at the time of the trade.
The White Lake, Michigan native was drafted in the third round (72nd overall) of the 2019 NHL Draft before attending Western Michigan for three years. Attard turned pro at the end of the 2021-22 season and appeared in 15 games with the Flyers, notching 2 goals and 2 assists.
Attard proceeded to appear in 123 games with the Phantoms and 29 games with the Flyers during his time in the organization. He led all Lehigh Valley blueliners in scoring in 2022-23 (32 points) and was second in that category last season (27 points) behind only Emil Andrae.
Attard had a tough preseason showing this year and was sent to the Phantoms without making the Flyers’ opening roster, leaving his long-term future with the organization in limbo.
Attard leaves the Flyers organization as a player who seemed to have the tools to be a capable middle-pair defenseman, but could never quite stay consistently good enough to really impress the team.
As for who the Flyers are getting back, Ben Gleason was an undrafted free agent who began his professional career in the Dallas Stars organization in 2018. Gleason spent most of his time with the AHL’s Texas Stars but did appear in 4 games for Dallas in 2018-19. Gleason recorded an assist in his NHL debut on November 10th, 2018 on former Flyer Denis Gurianov’s first NHL goal.
The 26-year-old spent five seasons with the Stars organization and led Texas in defensive scoring on two occasions. Gleason is second on Texas’ all-time scoring list among defensemen with 141 points and second for games played among defensemen with 290.
The Ortonville, Michigan native signed with the Oilers organization ahead of the 2023-24 campaign, where he spent entirety of his time in AHL Bakersfield. Gleason racked up 11 goals and 25 assists in 69 games with the Condors before Monday’s trade.
Gleason will now join a young and exciting Phantoms team and help mentor younger defensemen such as Hunter McDonald and Helge Grans.
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