A nondescript trade early in the season for the Flyers.
Continuing the tendency they have developed over the last few seasons, the Philadelphia Flyers have made another random, surprise trade, swapping underperforming prospects with the Seattle Kraken.
On Thursday, ahead of the second leg of their season-opening back-to-back, the Flyers announced that they had traded winger prospect Devin Kaplan to the Kraken in exchange for forward prospect David Goyette, who started as a center but has primarily featured on the flanks in the pros.
Kaplan, 22, made his NHL debut for the Flyers in Game 82 of the 2024-25 season against Buffalo, and played his first pro season last year, appearing in 49 games for the Lehigh Valley Phantoms and scoring five goals, eight assists, and 13 points.
The 6-foot-3 former third-round pick never showed much scoring upside, even during his time in the NCAA at Boston College, and failed to make an impact physically and defensively that would be indicative of a future bottom-six role with the Flyers.
A very quiet 2026 training camp reinforced that, and so the Flyers opted for a change of scenery swapping him for the Kraken's Goyette.
About Goyette
In his draft year in 2021-22, Goyette led the Sudbury Wolves in scoring with his 73 points in 66 games, scoring 33 times himself. The following year, Goyette tallied 92 points, and the year after that, a whopping 117.
The pro ranks have been a different story for the former second-rounder, though, as the new Flyers prospect has just nine goals, 19 assists, and 28 points in 105 career AHL games
Goyette has sufficient natural skill and speed to make an impact at the NHL level, but the scoring hasn't translated, and it doesn't help that he's only 5-foot-11 and has average hockey sense.
With the proper work, the Flyers could make Goyette into a Denver Barkey prototype, but that should be considered an optimistic outcome at this point in his career.
Still, the Flyers turned a failing project in Kaplan into something new with Goyette, and maybe the move ends up working out for both sides.
