Philadelphia Flyers, Calgary Flames make blockbuster trade

Still over a month away from the trade deadline we have seen tons of movement happening throughout the league.

It started last Friday when the Hurricanes, Avalanche and Blackhawks made what could be the biggest trade of the year.

Mikko Rantanen was traded to the Hurricanes in a move that could shape their team. With that, there was another large trade that happened Thursday night.

While the Flyers were playing the Islanders fans noticed that Morgan Frost had left the bench during the game.

Many were confused and it would later come out that the Flyers had traded Frost.

The Flyers decided that it was time to move on from Frost and Joel Farabee and went out and got Andrei Kuzmenko and Jakob Pelletier.

Along with the swap of players the Flyers acquired a second-round pick in 2025 and a seventh-round pick in 2028.

For the Flyers this trade made so much sense. Farabee has been a player they have been rumored to move for a couple of years now. His contract was not the greatest as he was making $5 million until 2028.

Although he is young he was struggling this year and was not worth the money he was making. This season Farabee played 50 games for the Flyers. He had a total of 19 points (8 G, 11 A). This is a huge decrease from his 50-point performance last year.

He needed a change of scenery and going to a team looking to make a playoff push.

The other player the Flyers are sending over is Frost. Frost has never really taken that next step the Flyers were hoping for. He was a solid player for them but he never turned into what they believed he could.

This season Frost had 25 points in 49 games for the Flyers. Just like Farabee, a change of scenery could be what Frost needs.

We will likely see these two play together in Calgary due to the chemistry they already have.

It’s a great add for Calgary as both are talented players but a change was needed and could spark their play.

On the other side of the trade, the Flyers are getting so much.

For starters, they add Kuzmenko who is signed to a one-year deal at 5.5 million dollars.

The Flyers add 500k in cap space for this year but clear up even more down the road. Along with that, they are getting a player who has skill. Despite a tough year this year Kuzmenko has shown that he can be a goal scorer.

In his rookie year, he scored 39 goals. If the Flyers could find this type of play from Kuzmenko it would solve one of their biggest problems which is goal scoring.

Another positive for the Flyers is that he has played with Matvei Michkov.

Pelletier has only played in 24 games in the NHL this year and only has 11 points. While the former first-round pick NHL stats don’t look the greatest he has been dominant in the AHL.

In the 20 games he’s played in the AHL this season he has scored at almost a point-per-game pace with 19.

Pelletier is a solid player who needs opportunity which he will get with the Flyers.

Along with the players the Flyers get even more draft capital as they have three first-round picks and four second-round picks in the 2025 NHL Draft.

I think this trade is a win-win for both teams. The Flames get two players who could help them in a playoff push.

The Flyers add two roster players who could be good along with more draft capital to help their rebuild.

This was a trade that came out of nowhere and I think Flyers defenseman Erik Johnson summed it up best in his Instagram comment.

“Just fell to my knees at Chickie and Pete’s.”

Andrew Matz is a third-year majoring in broadcast journalism. To contact him, email atm5759@psu.edu.