Brendan Lemieux was a throw-in at the trade deadline, and his brief time with the Flyers was largely unremarkable.
Acquired at the trade deadline, Brendan Lemieux didn't exactly get a sizable timeframe to prove he belongs in the Flyers' future plans — his run in Philadelphia lasted just over a month after arriving from the Los Angeles Kings.
On paper, the 27-year-old checks a lot of the boxes that make a prototypical player the Flyers have valued in recent years. But the players the Flyers valued in recent years are (presumably) very different from the ones they see being part of their impending rebuild. And for Lemieux, it won't be shocking if his stint with the Flyers has already come to an end.
Season In Review
The Flyers acquired Lemieux (and a 2024 fifth-round draft pick) from the Kings just ahead of the March 3 trade deadline in exchange for Zack MacEwen. And according to former Flyers general manager Chuck Fletcher himself, Lemieux initially wasn't even supposed to be part of the deal.
"The deal was for the fifth," Fletcher told the media following the trade deadline. "(Rob Blake) had indicated for whatever his reasons were that if he could move Brendan, he would do the deal. So I thought I'd just make it easy on him."
By the very definition of the term, Lemieux, an impending unrestricted free agent, was very much a throw-in at the trade deadline, and he had less than two months to make a strong first impression with his new team.
Well, in his 18 games with the Flyers — he missed two due to injury — Lemieux didn't exactly do much to prove worthy of a contract extension. And that's not to say his play was totally nightmarish. He just didn't stand out in any describable way.
Lemieux netted a pair of goals and six total points in his eight games with the Flyers. He also ranked third on the team with 52 hits from the date of his arrival to the season finale. But his play-driving numbers were unremarkable, and the overwhelming majority of his shifts were largely unmemorable.
That shouldn't exactly come as a shock, though. Lemieux has struggled to stick as a regular in NHL lineups, having played for three different clubs in the last three seasons.
Historically, Lemieux has never been much of a scorer — his best offensive season came during the 2019-20 campaign when he logged six goals and 18 points in 59 games with the New York Rangers, and before he was traded to the Flyers, he posted just three points (all assists) in 27 outings with the Kings. A lower-body injury landed him on injured reserve early in the season, and that certainly didn't help him find much of a rhythm, but it's unlikely he would have been called upon to generate much offense to begin with.
Lemieux has always been more of a checking-line enforcer than a consistent point producer. And given the presence of Nic Deslauriers on the Flyers' payroll, that's not exactly a quality the Flyers should be looking to foster.
Standout Moment
Against the Florida Panthers on March 21, Lemieux pulled off one of his better offensive plays of the season. He beat former Flyer Radko Gudas in a puck battle along the boards, bought some time, and fired a nice cross-ice pass to Travis Sanheim, who scored to break the 1-1 tie.
Lemieux and Gudas later went on to drop the gloves. Because of course they did.
The Flyers ended up winning that game by a score of 6-3.
Bottom Line
Despite the obvious lack of offensive production, Lemieux does offer some admirable qualities. He's gritty, plays with a ton of physicality, and is never afraid to drop the gloves to defend his teammates. But the Flyers already have several players on their roster who check those boxes. At this point, the Flyers need to redirect their focus toward adding talent and high-end skill to the lineup, from top to bottom. And those are qualities Lemieux has never possessed.
Verdict:
Statistics courtesy of Natural Stat Trick and NHL.com.