According to hockey insider Elliotte Friedman, Tony DeAngelo may be the next Flyers defenseman to be traded.
According to hockey insider Elliotte Friedman, Tony DeAngelo may be the next Flyers defenseman to be traded.
As Danny Briere has stated multiple times since Tuesday's three-team blockbuster that sent Ivan Provorov to the Columbus Blue Jackets, the Flyers are "open for business," and it sounds like another defenseman could soon be moved elsewhere.
While speaking on The Jeff Marek Show of Sportsnet 590 The FAN Thursday, hockey insider Elliotte Friedman singled out Tony DeAngelo as a candidate to be traded this offseason. And according to Friedman, the Flyers are being "aggressive" about finding a potential trade partner — even more so than they are about goaltender Carter Hart.
"Someone told me to dial back the Carter Hart (trade talk). They don't think that that necessarily is on the front burner and we should take a timeout on that one, so I will," said Friedman.
"I do think Philly is looking at Tony DeAngelo. I think they're aggressive on that front about trying to see what the market is for him. So, I think that DeAngelo moves to the front burner ahead of Hart. And someone said to me, 'Dial that one down, because I don't think that one's imminent.'"
DeAngelo is coming off a rough first season as a member of the Flyers. While he did lead all Flyers defensemen in goals (11), assists (31), and points (42), he struggled defensively throughout the campaign and failed to live up to his $5 million price tag.
It's also no help that he didn't develop have the greatest relationship with head coach John Tortorella. DeAngelo was benched for each of the Flyers' final five games of the regular season, and in one of those contests, Tortorella opted to dress only five defensemen and play Kieffer Bellows at forward rather than let DeAngelo step onto the ice.
DeAngelo voiced his disapproval during his end-of-season media availability.
"He's the coach of the team, so you've gotta respect that, and I respect what he does. Do I agree with it? What happened in the last five games? Absolutely not. I think it's ridiculous that I didn't play the last five. That's one thing. But he's also the coach of the team. It's not my job to decide that."
Trading DeAngelo may not be an easy task, especially given the way his season ended. The 27-year-old has one more year remaining on his contract at a $5 million cap hit, and in order for the Flyers to trade him, they would almost definitely need to retain a considerable chunk of his salary.
The Flyers could also take the buyout route with DeAngelo, but that would cost them $1,666,667 against the cap in each of the next two seasons.