What can the Flyers expect from newly-acquired defenseman Sean Walker?

Newly-acquired defenseman Sean Walker could play a key role on the Flyers' back end next season.

Danny Briere could have taken the safe route when executing the first major transaction of his tenure as Flyers general manager.

Instead, he decided to be bold, and, on paper, it paid off in a big way.

Briere traded longtime Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov as part of a three-way trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets and Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday, and he got a pretty nice haul in return for the four-time Barry Ashbee Trophy-winning defenseman, which includes the No. 22 overall pick in this year's draft.

In fact, that first-round pick was the key piece that made Briere feel comfortable pulling the trigger.

"We have the chance to get a really good player when you're drafting in the top 10 this year, with this crop. But it's a deep draft, and we felt we wanted to acquire another pick in the first two rounds, not having a second-rounder this year. So having a chance to get No. 22 was critical to the deal for us," Briere told the media following the trade.

In the deal, Briere also landed a pair of proven NHLers in goaltender Cal Petersen and defenseman Sean Walker. Petersen, more than likely, will compete for backup goalie duties. But Walker, on the other hand, has the chance to play a significant role for the Flyers right off the bat.

Walker's NHL career has been anything but conventional thus far. After a stellar four-year collegiate career at Bowling Green State University, the Keswick, Ontario, native logged an impressive 28-point campaign with the Ontario Reign of the American Hockey League in 2017-18. His production with the Reign earned him an entry-level contract with the Kings, and he quickly developed into a reliable, versatile presence on the Los Angeles blue line.

However, Walker experienced a career-changing setback just six games into the 2021-22 season. In a contest against the St. Louis Blues, he suffered a torn ACL and MCL, ending his season before it really even started.

After a lengthy rehabilitation process, Walker recovered in time to suit up for the Kings in their 2022-23 season opener against the Vegas Golden Knights. Walker, admittedly, began the season knocking off a fair amount of rust, but still managed to put together a strong campaign for one of the top teams in the Western Conference.

In 70 games, he posted three goals and 13 total points while ranking third on the Kings roster with 83 blocked shots on the season.

"From where I was last year, to be able to come back and actually play the majority of the year, it definitely took me a while to feel 100%, but, yeah, really proud to come back after an injury like that and end the year feeling kind of back to myself," Walker told the media during his end-of-season exit interview.

"When it first happens, you question if you can play again. So, to be able to come back and play, I'm very proud of that."

Walker was acutely aware his future in Los Angeles was uncertain at the end of the season. Given the club's lack of cap space and abundance of young talent eagerly awaiting to make the leap to the NHL, he knew there was a strong possibility he'd be moved at some point in the offseason.

And, of course, he was.

Now, after playing on a Kings team stocked with grizzled veterans like Drew Doughty, Anze Kopitar, and Alexander Edler, Walker finds himself being one of the more senior players on the Flyers' increasingly youthful roster, and his experience will surely come in handy as some of the club's young defensemen, including Cam York, Egor Zamula, and Ronnie Attard, look to take on more prominent roles as NHLers.

And, by all means, Walker will be a pretty useful resource for the Flyers' younger blueliners.

While Walker doesn't play the flashiest brand of hockey, he does possess a strong skating ability and is coming off a solid campaign from a play-driving perspective. Of 220 NHL defensemen to earn at least 400 minutes of 5-on-5 ice time this season, Walker ranked 56th in Corsi For percentage (52.19), 63rd in Expected Goals For per 60 (2.83), and 36th in high-danger scoring chance differential (55.15).

Not too bad for a player coming off a substantial knee injury.

Walker is a right-shot defenseman, but he's more than capable of playing on his offhand, which he exhibited often during his time with the Kings, who are loaded with righties. But in Philly, Walker will likely begin the season playing on his strong side. Currently, Walker, Rasmus Ristolainen, and Tony DeAngelo are the only right-shot blueliners on the Flyers' roster, and given the Flyers' reported "aggressive" attempts to trade DeAngelo, another spot on the right side could open up relatively soon.

Walker is entering the final year of his contract, which carries a cap hit of $2.65 million. With a strong campaign, Walker will have the chance to earn a nice pay raise next summer. But at 28 years old, he'll also need to prove he fits within the Flyers' timeline to contention, and that's far from a guarantee as the club looks to get younger on the back end — not unlike the approach they took with their forwards this season.

For now, though, Walker should serve as a good, serviceable piece as the Flyers reshape their blue line.

"It's exciting. And you don't know sometimes. You look at last year where a guy like (Owen) Tippett got the chance to play more and show what he was capable of. Same thing with (Morgan) Frost, with Noah Cates, Travis Konecny. So, a lot of the young guys took a big step forward, especially up front last year having more opportunities, and we hope we can do the same in the future with our defensemen," said Briere.

"There might be some nights where it's gonna be tough, but we want to see, have a clear idea where our defensemen stand. Hopefully we give them a chance to show us that."

Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.