Derick Brassard Traded to the Edmonton Oilers

Derick Brassard, 34, is a left-shot veteran centreman. Brassard has spent 15 seasons in the NHL as part of soon-to-be 10 different organizations. He’s scored 200 goals and 519 points in 936 career games.

This season, Brassard has settled into more of a bottom-six role in Philadelphia. He’s suited up in 31 games, with six goals and 16 points. He provides a moderate physical presence, with 61 hits in those games. On the dot, Brassard has won 51% of his faceoffs this season, which is certainly an attractive feature of his game for Edmonton. He’s averaging just over 14 minutes of ice-time a night.

According to Natural Stat Trick, Brassard’s possession metrics haven’t been great this season, but he holds a surprisingly good on-ice even-strength goal differential of 20-10.

A major factor in this trade has to be Brassard’s extensive postseason experience. Over his career, he’s played in 117 playoff games with 68 points in those games. In the eight seasons where his teams have made the postseason, they’ve advanced past the first round in seven of them. Brassard has a clear track record of contributing to playoff teams that have found some level of success. His cap hit is a modest $825,000 and he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season.

What This Means Going Forward

For the Oilers, this is a piece that will give their bottom-six a different look. He has more offensive pop than some of their other options and comes with more playoff experience as well. With Josh Archibald unable to play in almost all road games due to vaccination status, the Oilers did have a need.

For the Flyers, this is a reasonable return. Brassard was a cheap, offseason pick-up who likely wasn’t going to re-sign. A fourth-round pick will have more use to the team as it rebuilds.