After falling short of the playoffs, the Philadelphia Flyers were expected to make big moves over the offseason. General manager Chuck Fletcher has certainly delivered in that regard. The Flyers have completed four trades thus far and, as is typically the case, some were excellent … and some didn\u2019t turn out quite so well. To reflect on the triumphs (and busts) of this offseason, here are grades for each of the Flyers\u2019 trades.<\/p>\n
Grade: A-<\/i><\/p>\n
Prior to the Seattle Kraken expansion draft, the Flyers shored up their defence<\/a> with their first move of the off-season. Philadelphia received Nashville Predators<\/a> defenceman Ryan Ellis<\/a> in exchange for Philippe Myers<\/a> and Nolan Patrick<\/a>. Patrick was then flipped to the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a>.<\/p>\n With this trade, the Flyers sufficiently addressed their foremost problem – finding a partner for Ivan Provorov<\/a> on the top pairing. Ellis, a veteran right defenceman, fits the team\u2019s needs perfectly. He averaged around 24 minutes on ice through the past three seasons, shouldering even more time – 25 to 26 minutes per game – in the playoffs. He can head the power play and strengthen the penalty kill. Hopefully, Ellis will also serve as a veteran leader and mentor (much like Matt Niskanen<\/a>) for the Flyers\u2019 younger blueliners.<\/p>\n However, the return package for Ellis was a significant one. Of course, Ellis will fill the gap in the blue line left by Myers\u2019 loss, as both are right defencemen. Patrick, on the other hand, may be harder to replace. Though he struggled last season, he was still an integral part of the team\u2019s bottom six. Now, the Flyers will likely be depending on Morgan Frost<\/a> to centre the fourth line in Patrick\u2019s stead. He performed well in a limited role through the past two seasons. Still, there\u2019s always a level of uncertainty that comes with asking a relatively untried prospect to make the jump to the NHL level.<\/p>\n As a final thought, we also have to consider the injury concerns surrounding Ellis. He has missed a significant number of games in the past couple of years. Aside from a recent upper-body injury, Ellis has struggled with numerous injuries<\/a> in previous seasons. If he can stay healthy, this trade will pay huge dividends. But given the lingering questions about Ellis\u2019s injury history, it will have to be an A- for now.<\/p>\n Grade: D<\/i><\/p>\n We\u2019ll lump these two together since they\u2019re connected. First, the Flyers shipped<\/a> Shayne Gostisbehere<\/a> to the Arizona Coyotes<\/a>, along with 2022 second and seventh-round picks, to clear his $4.5 million cap hit. Then, just a day later, the Flyers added another defenceman<\/a>: Rasmus Ristolainen<\/a> of the Buffalo Sabres<\/a>. The return package was Robert Hagg<\/a>, a 2021 first-round pick, and a 2023 third-round pick.<\/p>\n In retrospect, it seems like the Flyers moved Gostisbehere to obtain space for Ristolainen. The former Sabre\u2019s cap hit comes in at $5.4 million, taking up more space than the Flyers could accommodate without some additional finagling. As such, the cost of getting Ristolainen wasn\u2019t just Hagg and two picks. It was also Gostisbehere and the picks the Flyers spent to move him.<\/p>\n On its own, the Ristolainen trade isn\u2019t great. Hagg – who was in and out of the Flyers\u2019 lineup last season – isn\u2019t too heavy a loss. However, giving up a first-round pick (even in a draft as uncertain as this year\u2019s) in exchange for a statistically questionable<\/a> player seems misguided. Add in the cost of moving Gostisbehere and the trade becomes completely baffling. Why give up so many assets for Ristolainen?<\/p>\n The apparent answer is the Flyers\u2019 need for physicality. Ristolainen recorded 193 hits last season, over 50 more than Philadelphia\u2019s hits leader and nearly 100 more than the closest Philadelphia defenceman. The blue line should benefit from his grit and toughness, and he seems happy to be in Philly.<\/p>\n Newest Flyers defenseman @rasmrist55<\/a> is willing to do anything to bring W’s to Philly. pic.twitter.com\/pD1O6zls88<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Philadelphia Flyers (@NHLFlyers) July 23, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n Other than that, though, the Ristolainen trade doesn\u2019t make much sense. We\u2019ll have to wait to see him in action to finalize the verdict, but for now, it\u2019s looking like a D.<\/p>\n Grade: A<\/i><\/p>\n The Flyers\u2019 latest trade was a significant one. The team swapped longtime mainstay<\/a> Jakub Voracek<\/a> for Columbus Blue Jackets<\/a> forward Cam Atkinson<\/a>, with no other pieces moved for either team.<\/p>\n This was a spectacular move on Chuck Fletcher\u2019s part. Like Voracek, Atkinson is a veteran winger who will fit comfortably into the Flyers\u2019 top six. He recorded 36 points last season – seven less than Voracek. However, Atkinson had 15 goals to Voracek\u2019s nine. This is where the major difference between the two becomes apparent. Voracek was always a pass-first player, and while that mentality was excellent for setting up scoring chances, it was often frustrating to see so few goals from a top-six forward.<\/p>\n Conversely, Atkinson is an efficient goal-scorer, consistently logging 20 or more goals in 82-game seasons. His career-best season saw him record 69 points, 41 of which were goals. He\u2019s probably not going to score at that pace again (the past few seasons have <\/i>seen him producing less), but regardless, he should be effective in Voracek’s stead.<\/p>\n As an added bonus, the Flyers managed to shed some cap space in the trade. Voracek\u2019s contract came with a burdensome $8.25 million cap hit that prevented the team from having much flexibility. Atkinson\u2019s deal is far smaller, with a $5.875 cap hit. Although he has four years remaining to Voracek’s three, gaining more than $2 million in cap space should be worth the extended timeline.<\/p>\n Losing Voracek is, admittedly, tough. But the return, in cap space and Atkinson, is worth it. This trade is looking like an A.<\/p>\n Overall, the results of the trades the Flyers have made thus far seem to be net-positive. The defence got a significant upgrade in Ellis. It was hard to let go of Voracek, but Atkinson will fit right in among the team\u2019s top six. Even Ristolainen, though he may not have been worth so many assets, will provide the Flyers with a physical edge. With plenty of time before the start of the next season, Chuck Fletcher may very well have more trades up his sleeve. But even now, the Flyers undoubtedly have a better roster than they did at the beginning of the offseason.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Main Photo: PITTSBURGH, PA – OCTOBER 29: Jakub Voracek #93 of the Philadelphia Flyers controls the puck against Jake Guentzel #59 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third period during the game at PPG PAINTS Arena on October 29, 2019, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin Berl\/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" After falling short of the playoffs, the Philadelphia Flyers were expected to make big moves over the offseason. General manager Chuck Fletcher has certainly delivered in that regard. The Flyers have completed four trades thus far and, as is typically the case, some were excellent … and some didn\u2019t turn out quite so well. To […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3813,"featured_media":66394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[16,2,4547,4548],"tags":[6842,6559,506,6733,1546,504],"class_list":["post-115500","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-flyers","category-featured","category-hockey","category-nhl","tag-2021-nhl-offseason","tag-flyers-featured","tag-jakub-voracek","tag-philadelphia-flyers-trade","tag-ryan-ellis","tag-shayne-gostisbehere"],"modified_by":"Ben Kerr","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115500","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3813"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=115500"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115500\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/66394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=115500"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=115500"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=115500"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Shayne Gostisbehere and Rasmus Ristolainen Trade<\/b><\/h3>\n
\n
Cam Atkinson Trade<\/b><\/h3>\n
Final Thoughts on Flyers Trades<\/h3>\n