*Photo from first Ohio Battery*
We have our first noteworthy trade of the offseason. The Columbus Blue Jackets have acquired D Ivan Provorov from the Philadelphia Flyers as part of a 3 team trade with the Los Angeles Kings, according to ESPN's Kevin Weekes. The 3 teams have confirmed.
The Blue Jackets only receive Provorov in this trade. The Flyers receive a first round pick from Columbus in 2023, a conditional second round pick in 2024 from Columbus, a 2024 second round pick from the Kings, goalie Cal Petersen, defenseman Sean Walker, and defenseman Helge Grans. The Kings are retaining 30 percent of Provorov's contract and receive defenseman Kevin Connauton and forward Hayden Hodgson.
Provorov has two seasons left on a 6 year, $40.5 million contract he signed with the Flyers prior to the 2019-2020 season. The left shot defenseman has a $6.75 million AAV for the next two seasons to go with a $3 million signing bonus for 2023-2024 and a $2 million signing bonus for 2024-2025.
Columbus GM Jarmo Kekalainen said of acquiring Provorov that "Improving our blue line has been a priority for us and acquiring Ivan gives us an established left-shot defenseman who is still a young player with his best seasons in front of him. He immediately improves our group on defense as he is durable, has great skill, skates well, is an excellent passer with an accurate shot and can effectively play at both ends of the ice."
The 2022-2023 season was Provorov's 7th season in Philadelphia. Provorov scored 6 goals and added 21 assists last season, posting a -17 rating and averaging 23:01 of ice time, appearing in all 82 games for the Flyers.
Over Provorov's 7 seasons, he has 217 points to his name. That is split between 65 goals and 152 assists, averaging 24:05 of ice time per game while posting a -28 rating in 532 games. Provorov has 3 goals and 8 assists over 22 playoff games, averaging 25:39 of ice time in the playoffs.
Philadelphia GM Danny Briere said of trading Provorov that "The last couple of weeks, I've had a few different discussions on Ivan. There's other teams that were involved, but it really seemed like the best fit was with Columbus and the interest was really, really high on Columbus' side. So, we started focusing on that a little bit more in the last couple of days."
One piece the Flyers get is the goalie Petersen. He has two years and $10 million left on a 3 year, $15 million contract signed with the Kings prior to last season, with a $4 million signing bonus due in 2023-2024 and a 10 team no trade list. He will be a UFA at the end of the 2024-2025 season.
Petersen struggled immensely in the first season of his contract last season. He posted a 5-3-2 record with a paltry 3.75 GAA and .868 save percentage, starting 9 games and appearing in 10. He was then demoted to AHL Ontario and replaced by Pheonix Copley, who went on a run and took over the starting job from Jonathan Quick, who was traded prior to the trade deadline.
Walker is the other NHL piece that the Flyers receive in the deal. He is entering the final season of a 4 year, $10.6 million contract signed with the Kings. He has a $2.65 million AAV for this season and will be a UFA following the expiration of the contract.
Last season was Walker's 5th in the league, all with the Kings. Walker scored 3 goals and dished out 10 assists, averaging 14:50 of ice time and recording a -3 rating, suiting up in 70 games for the Kings, having played 232 in his career.
Grans is a defenseman who spent last season in the AHL, scoring two goals and adding 7 assists in 59 AHL games. The 33 year old Connauton didn't play in the NHL last season but has 28 goals and 52 assists in 360 career NHL games. The 27 year old Hodgson has one goal and two assists in 7 career NHL games.
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