The Philadelphia Flyers have finally made another trade. Forward Zack MacEwen has been traded to the Los Angeles Kings for forward Brendan Lemieux and a 2024 5th-round draft pick, per Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher.
TRADE ALERT: We have acquired forward @blemieux22 and a 2024 fifth-round draft pick from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for forward Zack MacEwen.
MacEwen appeared in 46 games this season with the Flyers before fracturing his jaw on January 26th against Minnesota. He had recorded 4 goals and 5 assists for 9 points to accompany his 54 penalty minutes.
MacEwen originally joined the Flyers after being claimed off waivers from Vancouver ahead of the 2021-22 season. The 26-year-old native of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island ends his Flyers tenure with 7 goals, 11 assists, 18 points, and 164 penalty minutes in 121 games.
Lemieux, on the other hand, is basically the same player, but the main asset in this deal for Philadelphia is the 2024 5th-round pick.
Lemieux has just 3 assists in 27 games for the Kings this season and has not scored a goal in over a calendar year (February 26th, 2022). He has also missed some time this season dealing with a lower-body injury but has since returned to playing.
The 26-year-old Denver, Colorado native and son of former NHL pest Claude Lemieux, Brendan began his NHL career during the 2017-18 season in Winnipeg, appearing in 9 games. He played in 49 games with the Jets the following season before being traded to the New York Rangers in a deal for current Flyer Kevin Hayes.
Lemieux would play for New York across parts of 3 seasons before being traded to the Kings on March 29th, 2021. Lemieux’s time as a Ranger might be most well known to Flyers fans for Sam Morin feeding him his lunch shortly before his trade to Los Angeles.
Lemieux currently has 31 goals, 32 assists, 63 points, and 463 penalty minutes in 257 career NHL contests.
Both MacEwen’s and Lemieux’s contracts expire at the end of this season, with MacEwen becoming a restricted free agent with arbitration rights and Lemieux becoming an unrestricted free agent.
Whether the Flyers decide to re-sign Lemieux or not, that will be seen over how he performs in the last 20 games of the season.
