Philadelphia Flyers Create Personnel Flexibility By Trading Vincent Lecavalier, Luke Schenn

The Philadelphia Flyers have traded Vincent Lecavalier and Luke Schenn to the Los Angeles Kings for a third-round pick and AHL forward Jordan Weal. The Flyers will retain half of their salaries, but it is being reported that Lecavalier is going to retire at the end of the season, which will help Philadelphia retain even more of that salary.

Lecavalier signed with the Flyers before the 2013-14 season and has easily been one of the team’s most underwhelming players in recent memory. In 133 games with Philadelphia, Lecavalier has produced a pathetic 58 points. He was expected to come in and provide the Flyers some scoring depth, but that simply hasn’t happened.

The Flyers acquired Schenn in 2012 in the abysmal James van Riemsdyk trade. While Schenn has provided the Flyers with a solid physical presence on the blueline, his inconsistent play in the defensive zone and lack of scoring ability has made him expendable. The Flyers have been trying to trade Schenn months to solve the logjam on the back end.

The fact that Flyers GM Ron Hextall was able to make this trade is otherworldly. By trading Lecavalier and Schenn, the Flyers have freed up cap room, acquired a solid minor league player for their AHL affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms and now have another pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft. Hextall is a sucker for draft picks and since taking over as GM in 2014 and he’s used them well, drafting players like Travis Sanheim, Ivan Provorov and Travis Konecny.

With Luke Schenn gone, it’s reasonable to wonder about the future of his brother Brayden Schenn. He’s also been rumored to be on the trade block, but nothing has developed. It would not come as a surprise to see Hextall move him as well.

Philadelphia still has plenty of issues to worry about, especially on the ice, but this allows the team to be far more flexible with personnel. The Flyers are in good hands with Hextall at the helm.