The NHL trade deadline has come and gone. The Philadelphia Flyers made many trades, including finally ending the Scott Laughton saga that has been surrounding the Flyers for the past three years. Lets break down each trade the Flyers have made and give Danny Brière a grade for each.
CGY: Joel Farabee + Morgan Frost, PHI: Andrei Kuzmenko + Jacob Pelletier + 2025 2nd Round Pick + 2028 7th Round Pick
This is being added since it was a major trade that happened closer to the trade deadline than the start of the season. The Flyers did well here. Farabee and Frost were not as productive with the Flyers as many had hoped, and they got a pretty good haul for these guys. No salary retention either is a huge win for Brière. Wish they got something better than a seventh rounder for their second pick, but overall not too bad. Farabee and Frost haven’t looked great in Calgary either. Maybe Brière knew their peak had already been reached.
Grade: B+
LAK: Andrei Kuzmenko (50% Retained) + 2025 7th Round Pick, PHI: 2027 3rd Round Pick
Brière flipped a guy who was thrown in the Farabee-Frost trade as a salary match, while also having a no-trade clause to work around. To get a third round pick for him is alright. I wish that Brière could’ve gotten more; Kuzmenko played well here and showed flashes of talent and scoring ability playoff teams would want. Especially with retention I would’ve thought at least a second round pick was coming back, but I can’t complain about Brière flipping him while his value is at an all-time high.
Grade: B
TOR: Scott Laughton (50% Retained) + 2025 4th Round Pick + 2027 6th Round Pick, PHI: 2027 1st Round Pick (top-10 protected), Nikita Grebenkin
Well, it happened. Scott Laughton is no longer a Philadelphia Flyer. This trade seems weird off the bat. A 2027 first that’s top-10 protected? The Flyers are sending picks back? They’re retaining 50% of Laughton’s deal for this season and next? I know Brière said this was a rebuild so I get the retention, but the addition of picks seems strange.
That is until you look at the prospect the Flyers got in Nikita Grebenkin. While he hasn’t been “great” in the AHL this year, he was very good in the KHL last season and has a lot of natural skill. He’s also close buddies with Matvei Michkov, so I guess Brière decided that since he sent out one Russian friend, in comes another one. The Flyers already are log-jammed at wing, but it seems that Brière sees something in Grebenkin that he likes. He could be a solid middle six/50-60 point player if he’s developed right. Now add that AND a first round pick for Laughton?
Danny Brière, take a bow.
Grade: A+
COL: Erik Johnson, PHI: Givani Smith
Look, Erik Johnson was brought in last season as insurance and veteran leadership for a young team in a playoff push. That spiraled out of control when the entire defensive group collectively died, and he ended up playing 2nd-pair minutes in important games. This season he really has not played at all. I know he’s a great vet to have in the locker room, but to get anything for him at this point is a win. Go win another Stanley Cup, EJ!
On to Smith; he’s 27 years old and has played 13 games in the NHL this season. He has no points. He willl have to change his number as he wore 55 before. That’s pretty much all I have on him.
Grade: Does this really matter? A
There were some other names that were floated around but nothing ever materialized.
- Darren Dreger reported that Ristolainen was available but the Flyers were asking for a 1st round pick, a prospect, and a player in the exchange.
- Anthony SanFilippo reported on Egor Zamula, “I’m told a few teams have reached out on him.”
- SanFilippo also reported on Ryan Poehling that, “I believe [The Flyers] were trying to get Poehling to New Jersey, but the Devils traded for [Cody] Glass instead.”
Overall, Brière had himself a very successful deadline. He shook up the youth section of the core, flipped a player that was thrown into a previous trade as salary match, let Erik Johnson Cup chase, and got a fantastic return for Scott Laughton.
Hopefully this summer we see that big time move for a true first line center all the insiders have been hinting at over the past couple of months.
Overall Grade: A-
