Why the Flyers won the Ivan Provorov trade

Despite losing one of their top defensemen, Flyers still came out with the upper hand in the Ivan Provorov trade.

The first big trade of the offseason was completed Tuesday afternoon when the Philadelphia Flyers sent defenseman Ivan Provorov to Columbus as part of a three-way deal with the Blue Jackets and Los Angeles Kings.

Flyers general manager Danny Briere made it known since his promotion to full-time general manager in April that no one on the Flyers' current roster was untouchable, and Provorov is just the first player of potentially several to be flipped ahead of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft.

There are a lot of moving parts to the Provorov deal, but of the three teams involved, the Flyers were clearly the big winners of the day. And part of what makes it a successful trade is simply the fact that Provorov is gone.

For why the Blue Jackets may have won the trade, click here.

Why the Flyers made the trade: It's no secret that the Flyers are going through a rebuild. Briere repeatedly hinted that trades like this would be possible this offseason as he looks to reshape the Flyers' roster.

Provorov, of course, was one of the likeliest players to be moved.

For one, during his end-of-season media availability, Provorov seemed hesitant about the prospect of remaining a Flyer and enduring the coming rebuild. Without total commitment from their No. 1 defenseman, the Flyers had no choice but to entertain offers.

But on top of that, Provorov's productivity has diminish considerably over the last three seasons. He's coming off one of his worst campaigns as an NHLer, and with two years remaining on his contract that carries an annual cap hit of $6.75 million, his production didn't match his salary.

Despite his hefty contract, paired with his poor performance, he is still lionized by NHL general managers. Jarmo Kekalainen clearly is a fan, and the Flyers took advantage.

Why the Flyers won the trade: The Flyers won this trade for several reasons, but the big reason is their acquisition of a second first-round pick in this year's draft.

This draft class is considered one of the deepest in recent memory, and now the Flyers not only have the No. 7 pick, but potentially some ammunition to move up if they see fit.

"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 Tuesday.

Overall, the Flyers have 10 picks in this year's draft, and in 2024, they own four picks in the first two rounds, thanks to the pair of second-round selections the acquired from Columbus and Los Angeles.

Not too shabby.

The Flyers also added some proven NHL players to the roster. Sean Walker has developed into a versatile, reliable right-shot defenseman who can play anywhere in the lineup, and Cal Petersen, once considered one of the NHL's top up-and-coming goalies, is likely to play a key role for the Flyers next season as a backup (or possibly as a starter if Carter Hart is moved).

They also received Helge Grans, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound defenseman prospect who was drafted early in the second round of the 2020 draft.

Oh, and on top of all that, the Flyers didn't even have to retain any of Provorov's salary.

Granted, the Flyers did have to part way with a pair of additional pieces separate from Provorov in defenseman Kevin Connauton and forward Hayden Hodgson, but neither of those players were considered no-doubt-about-it NHLers. All things considered, this is simply magnificent work by Briere.

Why the Flyers may have lost the trade: Well, to put it bluntly, they absolutely didn't. Given the enormous package they received for Provorov (and Connauton and Hodgson), it's nearly impossible to think the Flyers will regret moving on from their first-pair defenseman while he carried the lowest value of his career.

The only possible way this trade winds up being a disappointment for the Flyers is if Provorov seamlessly transforms into a bona fide franchise defenseman, and sustaining that level of play for the long haul, in Columbus. Could that happen? Sure! But given his rapid regression since the 2019-20 season, it's hard to imagine him suddenly becoming an all-world talent on a bad Blue Jackets team.

Lip Service: With Provorov now in Columbus, Flyers fans are eager to see what else Briere has up his sleeve this offseason. And judging by his comments immediately after the trade, it sounds like just about anything is possible.

"We felt this trade made sense at this time for us. That's why we moved ahead," said Briere. "There's always two sides to it — three sides in this case. So you never know. If it makes sense and there's a good return on other things, we'll consider it."